Learning Lessons
by trallgorda
Summary: SG1 is stuck on a planet of strange beings who are trying to teach them their language, and who are not willing to let SG1 go. What will SG1 do?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The security team had found them in the ancient ruins, wandering about and chattering to one another. Following their standing orders, the security team immobilized them, tranquilized them, and then took them to the nearest research facility. The research team residing at the facility was overjoyed at having four of them to work with.

"Okay, of all the things we've seen, I have to say that these are the weirdest," the team leader said, examining a pedal appendage while their security officer looked on silently.

"Weird or just strange?" their linguist wanted to know.

"Maybe both. Does it matter?" wondered the science officer, hurriedly entering data into a computer. "How much does that one weigh?"

"Eight point oh two," the team leader told her, reading the digits from a nearby screen. "He's a skinny little shrimp!"

"What about that one?"

"Nine point five oh. Good size."

"And the tallest?"

The team leader read the screen and whistled. "Ten point seven three. Big!"

"And the female?"

"Eight point five oh."

"Gotcha."

The one that the team leader had called a shrimp began to stir on his table, muttering under his breath and moving about. While the security officer inched closer just in case, the science officer watched the subject closely, praying that he wouldn't wake up completely. If he did, he'd have to be sedated, and having sedated subjects always slowed the work down to a crawl. To her relief, he settled back down and seemed to slip back into deep sleep.

"Whew," she muttered, entering that incident into the computer. "All right, who are we putting where?"

"Let's put Shrimp into his room first," the team leader said, scooping the inert body up. "I don't like how he almost woke up."

"I wonder if he could see or hear us?" the linguist said, sounding very interested.

"If he could, then he probably thought he was having one weird dream," the team leader quipped, carrying the subject down the hall and into a room.

While the subjects slept, many scans were made of their bodies, and samples of blood, saliva, skin, and hair were taken. Tests were performed to see which foods would be palatable and beneficial for them, and there was even time to make them clothing in a proper style. The team began to choose who would work with which subjects, and as soon as they woke on their own, the work would begin.

Space

He had a nightmare of giants chasing him and shooting at him with guns that shot syringes. He ran, shouted for help, and tried to fight when he saw his friends fall, but nothing he did helped. It was as he was running that he realized he was dreaming.

Daniel woke, feeling as if his body were still asleep. His mouth felt dry and scratchy, and he wished that he could move or go back to sleep. Either one would work. Had he been sick or injured? If so, then why wasn't he in the infirmary? The bed he was lying in didn't feel like an infirmary bed, and…he shifted, fighting stiff muscles, praying that what he was beginning to feel was true was not. He lifted the blankets just to check, and he felt himself blush. That was when he knew that he was not in the infirmary, because the infirmary did not put you to bed naked.

He sat up and looked around in the dim light, wrapping the blanket around himself in a makeshift type of kilt. So, he'd woken up alone and naked in a dark room and he had no idea of how he had gotten there. He didn't like what that implied at all. Where was everyone else?

"Jack!" he called, praying someone would hear him and answer. "Sam! Teal'c! Where are you guys?"

No answer.

"Hello! Anyone?"

Silence.

Slowly, without a sound, the lights in the room increased until it was as bright as daylight inside. He looked around, trying to see how it was happening or who was doing it, but he could see nothing.

"Uh, whoever did that, if you can hear me and understand me, could you come and tell me what happened and how I got here?" he stopped. "Wherever here is," he muttered. Taking a deep breath, he raised his voice again. "Where are my friends? Could you tell me if they're all right, and if it's not too much trouble, could you give me back my clothes?"

Nothing but quiet answered him.

"Look, I'm really not comfortable with this!" Daniel insisted, determined to get an explanation. "Unless those lights are automated, I want someone to come and start explaining right now!"

No answer. Daniel sighed and muttered an Abydonian curse under his breath. He wasn't going to give up, but he had a feeling he'd have to try something different. Something remarkable. Something to get their attention. He turned, looking around the room. It consisted of a fluffy futon-like bed, and one side of it was larger and fluffier to serve as a pillow. There was the blanket, but that was around his waist. There was a table that was bolted to the floor, and very little else. The floor was covered with something like carpet, but it was no fiber he recognized. Well, he couldn't throw something about to get their attention.

_I wonder if dancing around the room naked will work,_ Daniel thought, feeling frustrated. _Are they even watching me? I don't see a camera anywhere, though. But who's to say what their type of camera will look like? Maybe they're watching me through something like a two-way mirror,_ he stopped, looking around. No mirror or glass to be seen. _Okay, no observation glass I can see. Maybe a two-way wall?_

Making sure that his blanket was secure, he sat down by the table and waited. Someone had to come or something had to happen sometime soon. While he waited, he found himself falling into an old nervous habit: writing with his fingers on the tabletop. It had driven his foster mother crazy because she always had to clean up his smudges, but it was something he wasn't able to stop doing. He let his eyes wander around the room until he realized that his fingers were doing an awful smudge job to the table. Then, he looked again. The markings on the table weren't smudges, they were what he'd been letting his fingers write! Somehow, the table changed color where he'd written and kept the image. Incredible!

Quickly, Daniel wrote the same message in as many languages as he could, praying they would recognize one. _I would like to talk to someone. I have questions to ask. _Cuneiform, heiroglyphics, English, Russian, Abydonian, and every other language he knew. They had to see one that would make sense to them eventually. Didn't they?

Space

"So, we have the products of a literate society, and this one is knowledgeable of several languages," the linguist said, studying the forms of writing that had shown up on the table. "Interesting. Any thoughts on his language?"

"Shrimpy's speaking one that we don't know, and we don't know the writings, but apparently he's able to speak. He should be able to learn our language with no problem, if you'd want to teach him," the team leader said, watching their subject continue to write.

"I'd love to," the linguist told him. "He's very intelligent. Look at the way he's trying several languages, hoping we'll recognize one."

"I'd say that the sooner we start teaching him, the better," the science officer said, handing the linguist a suit of clothes for him. "Obviously he's uncomfortable without clothing, so take him these before he starts to be really frightened. Good luck."

Space

Daniel was in the middle of writing the message in runes when he sensed someone behind him. Turning, he saw a very, very tall being who was regarding him (he hoped) benevolently. Feeling like a child again due to the being's size (and hoping he didn't mind the marked-up table), Daniel stood and gave a little bow. "Hello. I'm Daniel Jackson."

The being looked at him. Daniel found himself wondering if the being's skin was actually that color of...gray? Blue? Lavender? Was he or she changing colors just to confuse him, or did that indicate emotion or something else?

"Where are my friends? We are peaceful explorers from Earth. We meant no harm when we came here. I would like to see them."

The being held out his hands (he was sure it was male) and Daniel saw that he was holding what had to be clothes of some kind. "Thank you!" he cried gladly, taking them. Within moments, he was dressed and feeling much more comfortable. When he compared the being's clothing to his own, he saw that the outfits were of similar cut and color. The pants tied with a drawstring, and the shirt was belted closed like a robe. The fabric felt similar to the cotton pajamas in the infirmary back at SGC.

"Thank you," Daniel said sincerely, folding up the blanket. "That's much better. Can you tell me your name?"

His new friend pointed at him.

Daniel blinked. "You...want to know my name?" He tapped himself on the chest. "Daniel. Daniel."

The being shifted colors. "Dannul."

Daniel felt himself smiling. "Close enough. You?" he asked, pointing at the being.

"Ahntas."

"An-hass?" Daniel said, trying to pronounce it the way the being did.

"Ahntas."

"Ahnt-as."

The being nodded his head once, shifting colors, and then he moved to sit down by the table, waving Daniel over and motioning for him to sit as well. Once he had done so, the being pointed to the table before smoothing his hand over it, making the writing disappear. Daniel was reminded a bit of the Magna-Doodle that Cassandra had played with while she'd been at SGC. The being held out a hand toward Daniel, indicating that he wanted him to write something.

"Oh. Okay," Daniel said, moving his finger over the tabletop. He wrote his name in English, just to see how the being would react to it, and then he pointed at it and read it. "Daniel. That's my name. Daniel. Daniel. What's yours?"

The being wrote something in a looping whirling script that reminded Daniel strongly of Sanskrit. A connection?

"Ahntas," the being said, pointing at it.

Daniel smiled. "Ahnt-as," he said, pointing to it, and then he pointed at his own name. "Daniel."

Ahntas shifted colors, and Daniel was certain that shifting colors meant amusement or a change in emotion. Okay, good. If he could just learn to read the different color-shifts...

The being rose then and went to the wall to press his hand against it. Under Ahntas' fingers a...cabinet opened, revealing what had to be food and drink. Ahntas gathered it all into his hands and carried it to the table, and as he did so, the cabinet closed of its own accord. Daniel had never seen anything like it, but Ahntas acted as if it were normal. Perhaps to him it was. He set the table quickly with two plates and glasses, placed a bowl of fruit and a plate of what looked like bread in the center, and a pitcher of what could only be water beside them.

What followed was the most interesting language lesson/meal he'd ever had, and it was clear to Daniel that Ahntas meant him to learn his language. By the time Ahntas was putting the dishes back into the cupboard, Daniel knew every piece of fruit, the names of the bread and water, and the words for plate and cup and eat. Hurriedly, he wrote it all down on the now-clean table and waited for what Ahntas was going to say next.

"Dannul?" Ahntas said, holding up his hand before pressing it onto the tabletop. Like the writing, the image stayed. "Gahba."

"Gahba?" Daniel repeated, pressing his own hand on the tabletop. "'Gahba' is 'hand'?"

Ahntas repeated it, pointing to his hand. "Gahba. Gahba."

"Okay, gahba," Daniel repeated. "Gahba." He stopped to point at his foot. "What is this?"

Ahntas looked at him, so Daniel pointed to his hand, said the word, and then pointed to his foot while waiting for Ahntas to speak.

"Hagba."

"'Hagba' is foot," Daniel said to himself, writing it down. "Okay, it seems we have some kind of root or stem there..."

Over the rest of the morning Daniel learned all the major parts of the body, and then he learned the names of all the furniture in the room. Usually, he had to tap or touch what he wanted to learn the name of since pointing was not easy to do with Ahntas. It seemed that Ahntas only used pointing when it was something near to his body, and not something across the room.

"All right, we've got floor, ceiling, wall, cupboard, bed, blanket, and table. Good. Now, since I've been such a good student, maybe you can tell me something about my friends." Daniel turned to face Ahntas, considering how to approach this, and returned to the table. Ahntas followed him to see what he was doing. Quickly, Daniel drew four stick figures and pointed at one. "Daniel. This is me. Daniel."

Ahntas regarded him with...Daniel hoped it was interest. He kept going, pointing to the other three figures. "Sam. Jack. Teal'c. Where are they?"

"Heihn."

Daniel looked up, surprised at the word. "Heihn? What is 'heihn'?"

For an answer, Ahntas erased the figures representing the rest of SG-1 and repeated the word. "Heihn."

"Oh, please don't tell me they're dead or gone," Daniel said anxiously. "Heihn is...dead? Gone?"

Ahntas only looked at him for an answer.

Daniel re-drew the three figures and pointed at them. "Heihn?"

"Heihn," Ahntas confirmed. He sounded determined, not happy as he had been earlier when Daniel had been learning words.

Daniel thought about this. "Heihn" could mean anything: dead, gone, left, blown-into-smithereens, I-don't-want-to-talk-about-that-now, your-drawing-stinks. How could he get Ahntas to tell him what he wanted to know when he couldn't even speak the lanaguage beyond the most concrete and simple of words?

_I hope Jack never finds out about this, because if he does, I'll never, EVER hear the end of it,_ Daniel thought bleakly. He pointed to his three stick figures one last time and repeated the word before waiting for an answer.

"Heihn," Ahntas said patiently, and once Daniel heard the word, he put his head down on the table and pretended to cry.

_That _got results. Immediately Daniel felt Ahntas' hands on his shoulders, trying to lift him from the table and look at him. That was when he heard it: "Heihn, heihn. Heihn aldand. Dand."

Daniel looked at him, keeping a very doubtful expression on his face. "Heihn?"

Ahntas appeared to consider how to answer him. Then, he pointed to the three figures. "Dand." Slowly, so Daniel could watch, he erased them. "Aldand." He drew them again."Dand." He erased them. "Aldand."

"'Dand'? That's alive? They're alive?" Daniel demanded, looking hopeful.

"Dand," Ahntas confirmed, and his colors shifted to a bright pink when he saw Daniel's relief. Daniel jotted all of it down. "Heihn" was apparently "no," or something denoting a negative state since Ahntas had used it as "no" and to tell him that they were not dead or gone, which was "aldand." "Dand" was either "alive" or "here." What was "yes?"

"Ahntas," Daniel said to get his attention. "Heihn?"

Ahntas looked at him.

Daniel pointed at Ahntas. "Daniel."

Ahntas shifted colors to something like green, which Daniel took to mean confusion. Daniel repeated his name, pointing at Ahntas the whole time.

"Heihn," Ahntas said at last, catching on. He pointed at Daniel and said very clearly, "Dannul."

Daniel pointed to himself. "Ahntas?"

"Heihn."

He pointed again to himself. "Daniel?"

"Keihn!" Again Ahntas shifted to a bright pink.

Quickly Daniel jotted down that "keihn" meant "yes" and that bright pink was either amusement or happiness. Okay, this was going well. Now he only had about one hundred thousand or so words to go. In order to avoid further confusion, Daniel asked for the gestures for "yes" and "no" and was relieved that they were the same as the ones he was used to using. Good. In the next moment, however, he got a surprise.

"Dannul. Litha." _Daniel, bed._

Daniel looked at him, a bit surprised and very confused and wished he knew the word for why. "Litha?"

Ahntas nodded. "Keihn. Litha, Dannul."

"Why?" Daniel asked, not understanding why Ahntas was saying the word for bed. Was he trying to talk about it, or was Ahntas telling him that he wanted Daniel to lie down?

Ahntas rose and went to the bed before patting it with his hand. "Litha."

"Yes, I understand that's a bed," Daniel said, approaching him. "What about it?"

Daniel got the shock of his life when Ahntas suddenly swooped down and picked him up, much the way an adult human would pick up a child. Ahntas laid him down very gently and covered him with the blanket before saying, "Mosa."

"Mosa?" Daniel repeated, carefully getting up when Ahntas made no move to keep him under the covers or on the bed.

Ahntas nodded. "Mosa," he said, pointing to the bed and then pointing at Daniel. "Aben."

"Sleep and awake?" Daniel asked, understanding. "Lying down and being up? Okay, I get it." He went to the table and wrote the words and their meanings. Then, he decided to try something. "Jack mosa?"

Ahntas shifted to pink once again. "Jack mosa. Tilk mosa. Sam mosa. Dannul abend."

"So, they're all asleep and I'm awake," Daniel muttered to himself. "Okay."

Ahntas motioned for Daniel to come close again, so Daniel complied. Once more, Ahntas picked him up and laid him down, but when Daniel tried to get up again, Ahntas placed a hand on his shoulder. "Heihn, Dannul. Mosa."

"You want me to sleep? Why?" Daniel asked, surprised.

"Mosa," Ahntas repeated. "Ahntas gehend."

"Gehend?" Daniel parrotted, trying to determine what it meant. "Gehend?"

Ahntas simply nodded, as if reassuring him about something. By this time, Ahntas was tucking the blanket in, effectively tucking Daniel into bed so well that it would be a challenge to get back up again without help. "Mosa, Dannul."

"Heihn," Daniel protested. "Heihn mosa."

"Keihn mosa," Ahntas insisted. "Ahntas gehend qan Dannul abend. Mosa."

Daniel fought to get up. Since the blanket had been tucked in under the mattress and he was lying on the mattress, his own weight was keeping him trapped. He tugged at the blanket in an attempt to get up, determined not to do what Ahntas was telling him to do, but Ahntas was having none of it. Carefully, he moved his hand toward Daniel's face and placed it over his mouth and nose while Daniel tried to pull away. "Mosa, Dannul. Ahntas gehend qan Dannul abend."

Whatever was coming out of Ahntas' hand smelled very sweet and strong, and almost immediately Daniel felt his eyelids droop and a deep feeling of tiredness overcame him. As he fell asleep, he found himself wondering if that was the way they had been put to sleep before.

Space

The rest of the team had nothing but congratulations for Ahntas when he returned to the observation room.

"That was very well done," Liora, the science officer, told him. "Very well done."

"Not bad," Tehere, the team leader, commented. "We've learned a few of his words and he's learned some of ours. Good."

The security officer, Soro, nodded. "You were communicating."

"Well, I think most of the credit goes to him," Ahntas said, shifting pink. "He's very smart, and he was working very hard to understand me and communicate. I was a little worried, though, when he claimed he didn't want to rest. Having him asleep when we're not working will keep him from worrying about his friends."

"I don't understand why we won't let them see each other," Soro commented dryly. "It would keep them from worrying."

"We want them to communicate effectively with us before we allow them to get back together," Ahntas reminded him. "To do that, we have to keep them apart. If we allow them to be together they may cease using our language and shift back to theirs."

"Oh."

"So how are the rest of them doing?" the linguist asked, examining the monitors that allowed them to see into each room.

"Well, Sam, the female, is learning words," Liora reported. "She's a lot of fun to work with, and she was very glad to get the clothes."

"So was Dannul."

"So were all of them," Tehere reported. "I spent some time with Jack, and he's not patient at all. He kept repeating his friends' names and shouting a lot of words in his language. I don't think he's going to be easy to teach."

"And Tilk?" Ahntas asked, intrigued.

"He said his friends' names and repeated them at intervals," Soro said. "He's obviously a security detail, so I figured we would have the common ground between us. That didn't work out, though. All the words he said were his friends' names."

"Well, we'll get them to learn a few more words before we let them see one another," Tehere commented, jotting things down in his log. "All right, let's make our reports and get back to work."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Colonel Jack O'Neill was not a happy man. It was a simple mission: go to the planet, look around, take some samples, take some pictures, and then go home to report. Simple. Very simple. It was something they'd done thousands of times before. Easy.

Unfortunately, it ceased being simple when those…things had come into the ancient temple where the Stargate was located. They waited only long enough for Daniel to say hello before they struck. The next time Jack was conscious, one of the things had been in the room with him and gabbled at him, as if he were expecting Jack to repeat the words. Once he'd gotten clothes on, Jack demanded to know where his friends were and then told the alien that Daniel was the linguist, _not_ _him_!

The alien didn't understand, and that made Jack's situation all the more frustrating. He had no idea where any of his team were, and he knew he couldn't take any kind of action that might endanger them. All he could do at the present time was wait until he learned something.

It was his—second time? Third time?—awake when the alien arrived carrying something very interesting.

"Shia, Jack," the alien said, coming in. What was the guy's name? Tree? Tray? No, wait, it was Tehere.

"Shia, Tehere," Jack answered, using their word for 'hello.' He'd learned that much, at least. Daniel would most likely be fluent at this point, though, if he were even in the same place.

Tehere sat down by the table and placed an object on it. Jack glanced at it and did a double-take. The object was Daniel's glasses.

"Daniel!" Jack said. "These belong to Daniel! Where is he?"

Tehere shook his head. "Heihn. Primeh Jack por."

_That _was frustrating in the extreme. "I don't even know what you're trying to tell me! Daniel could probably tell what you're saying, so if he's here, take me to him and we can all talk until we're hoarse if you want!"

The alien looked at him and shifted colors. That was…disturbing, in some slight way. "Jack por." He sounded determined.

"Pour? Pour _what_? I don't see a pitcher of water on that table!"

The alien shook his head and shifted colors again. Lifting his hand to his face, he held it in front of his lips. "Por. Por. Waha, waha. Por."

Jack watched him, perplexed, and he mimicked the action. "Por? Por is talk? You're asking me to talk?"

The alien shifted pink, which Jack knew meant it was pleased or happy.

"I'm talkin' now!" Jack complained.

The alien shifted to a bluish-green. Disappointment.

"You and me both, brother," Jack muttered, sitting down. "Okay, I think you want to teach me your language even though I'm not a linguist. Okay. I'll learn some words, you tell me about my friends. Deal?"

The alien regarded him with a tilted head, but he shifted pink, understanding that Jack was willing to speak with him.

"Okay, teach me this word," Jack said, tapping the table. "What's this?"

"Kabule," Tehere said, tapping it in response. "Kabule."

"Kabule," Jack repeated. "Table. Okay, not hard to remember. What's next?"

Space

Liora was very, very pleased. Sam was putting together short sentences already and using the words she'd learned to communicate! The only other subject to do that was Dannul! It was Ahntas' theory that Dannul was a linguist, which was no end of interesting. Two linguists working together to learn a language. Every member had watched the recordings of his or her fellow team members interacting with his or her assigned subject, and they were always interesting to watch.

Sam seemed to use the same methods that Dannul did in learning the words: writing them down on the table. Their one difference was that Dannul grouped his words in "classes" that went together while Sam had her words all in one list.

"Sam? Kabule?"

Sam checked her list and then pointed to the table. "Kabule, Liora."

"Eh litha?"

Sam went to her bed and tapped it. "Bed." She'd learned that Liora only used pointing for things that were right next to her.

"Bashe?"

Sam squatted and tapped the floor. "Floor."

"Murr?"

Sam scooted to the wall and tapped. "Wall." She was enjoying this. An alien was trying to communicate with her! How many people on Earth could boast to _that_?

"Brode?"

It took Sam a moment to spot the almost-invisible cupboard and tap it. It opened under Liora's fingers, but it had yet to work for her.

"Liora?"

Sam grinned and tapped Liora's shoulder. "Liora."

"Ban!" Liora said, shifting to a bright pink. "Ban!" Good!

"Daniel, Jack, Teal'c, mosa uh abend?" Sam asked. Are my friends asleep or awake?

"Mosa." The pink faded, and for a moment Sam saw a trace of orange. What did orange mean?

"Sam abend," Sam said. "Sam ahteh." She had learned that 'ahteh' meant 'eat' or 'hungry,' and she was. That and thirsty. "Ahteh eh suafe."

Liora smiled and fetched things from the cupboard to set the table with. Sam smelled something delicious and her mouth watered. Oh, they'd given her something hot! Wonderful!

When she saw it, she didn't think it was so wonderful. It looked like old oatmeal with…things…floating in it. The bad thing was that it was the source of the wonderful smell. Liora was urging her to eat, so she tried a tentative spoonful and realized that there _was_ such a thing as heaven in a bowl! She downed the entire bowl and eagerly asked for some more by holding out her bowl, but Liora shook her head and took Sam's bowl away. "Por, Sam. Aposh."

"Aposh?" Sam repeated. "Is that what that heavenly stuff is called? Aposh?"

Loria nodded and ladled some more aposh into Sam's bowl before handing it to her. "Aposh."

"Whoever invented aposh knew what he was doing, then," Sam remarked, digging in.

Space

"Aposh, Tilk," the alien repeated, seeming tired. "Por, Tilk."

Teal'c looked at him, regarded the bowl warily, and looked away. "I wish to see my friends. I will not cooperate until I do."

The alien, who Teal'c had learned was called Soro, set the bowl down in front of Teal'c. "Por, Tilk."

"Where are Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c persisted.

Soro was so frustrated he actually put his head down on the table and muttered something. Jaffa persistence was something he had not come across before, and he found it very wearing. "Sam mosa. Jack mosa. Dannul mosa."

"I do not know what this word 'mosa' means," Teal'c told him.

Soro looked at him, shifting colors. The expression on his face was plain for anyone, human, Jaffa, or otherwise, to read: _That's part of the problem here!_

Teal'c regarded him silently. Soro rose and left the room, muttering and shifting colors. The wall opened to let him through, but when Teal'c tried to go through the still-visible opening, he felt as if he had slammed into a wall. So, there was no way out through that way. He would have to wait.

Space

Dannul helped Ahntas clean up after their meal (that had featured something completely delicious called aposh) and asked a question. "Jack, Sam, Teal'c abend?"

Ahntas shook his head. "Heihn. Mosa. San mosa."

"'All asleep,' huh?" Daniel said, translating the words aloud. "Why is is that whenever I'm awake, they're asleep?"

Ahntas just looked at him for a moment before heading to a box he'd brought with him. "Vena, Dannul."

Daniel had learned the meaning of "vena" the second time he'd been awake. "Vena" meant "come" or "come here." Daniel went, and Ahntas shifted to pink. As Daniel took a seat beside Ahntas at the table, Ahntas poured all of the contents in the box out onto the table.

What he saw surprised him. Blocks, balls of various sizes, what appeared to be toys of some sort. A few small books that were made out of no material Daniel was familiar with, and several other things he couldn't even understand. What was going on here? "Ahntas, qeh shesh?" _Ahntas, what are these?_

"Shesh cova, spi, livri, eh jos," Ahntas said, pointing to the blocks, balls, books, the odd toys, and the other objects that Daniel couldn't name.

"So these are blocks, balls, books, and...toys? Keihn? Cova, spi, livri, jos?" he said, pointing to each the way Ahntas had. "Keihn?"

"Keihn!" Ahntas confirmed. "Ban! Oldas ban!" _Good! Very good!_

Daniel soon learned what all the toys were for. He was learning how to identify objects and give them to Ahntas when he was asked for them. Also, he learned the colors and what the odd toys he couldn't identify were called. Whenever Ahntas asked for something, Daniel had to hand it to him and say what it was. Soon, he was using the verb dounda, "to give," as well as Ahntas was. Daniel was pleased because it was his first reflexive verb in this language. So far, he had sleep, walk, come, eat, drink, and give. Not bad.

While Ahntas was setting the blocks aside, Daniel examined one of the odd toys. It reminded him a bit of a Rubik's cube, but the squares on it were really circles, and the circles were all the same color. When he nudged one, it slid along the surface of the cube a lot longer than it should have, almost as if it were moving on its own. Sam would have found it fascinating.

Ahntas took it from him. "Hey!" Daniel complained. "I was looking at that, Ahntas!"

"Dannul tiera jos?"

Daniel blinked at him. "Tiera" was new. What did it mean? Daniel tried to take it from Ahntas' hand, but Ahntas moved his hand away. "Heihn. Dannul tiera jos?" He seemed to be waiting for Daniel to do something.

"I want that back, now," Daniel persisted.

Ahntas shifted to pinkish-purple. Daniel had realized that that particular shading meant "amused." Then, it dawned on him: Ahntas was asking him if he wanted the toy! He felt himself smile. "Daniel tiera jos."

Ahntas gave it back to him, a bright, happy shade of pink. Then, he brought something out of the box and sat beside Daniel so they were facing the same way before holding the object out in front of both of them. Daniel saw it was a mirror.

"Ahntas vie Dannul," Ahntas said, pointing at the image in the mirror. "Dannul vie Ahntas." He flipped the mirror so the back was facing them. "Ahntas heihn vie Dannul. Dannul heihn vie Ahntas."

"See," Daniel said, feeling a slow smile spread over his face. "Ahntas sees Daniel, Daniel sees Ahntas, Ahntas doesn't see Daniel, Daniel doesn't see Ahntas. I get it!"

After that, they reviewed all the words and phrases that Daniel knew, and Ahntas smiled and repeated "Oldas ban!"

"Merga," Daniel said in reply. _Thank you._

Ahntas stood, and motioned with his hands. "Vena, Dannul." Daniel followed, but when he saw Ahntas was heading for the bed, he stopped. Ahntas, realizing that Daniel wasn't with him, stopped as well and turned to look at him. "Vena, Dannul. Vena."

"Mosa? Daniel mosa?" Daniel asked, just to make certain.

"Keihn," Ahntas said. "Vena."

Daniel shook his head. He didn't feel like going to sleep. "Heihn."

"Keihn. Dannul mosa." At that, Ahntas reached (Daniel had forgotten how far his arms could reach!) and took Daniel's arm and drew him towards the bed to put him to sleep.

Determined, Daniel twisted away, breaking Ahntas' grip and stood on the far side of the room, out of reach. "Heihn, Ahntas. Daniel heihn mosa. Daniel abend. Daniel tiera vie Jack, Sam, Teal'c."

"Heihn," Ahntas said, approaching Daniel. "Dannul heihn vie Jack, Sam, Tilk. Dannul mosa."

Daniel moved a few steps away. "Heihn. Daniel heihn mosa."

"Keihn. Dannul mosa."

"Heihn," Daniel insisted, moving away whenever Ahntas reached for him.

That was when Daniel bumped into someone. It was a very tall someone, and immediately he knew that one of Ahntas' friends had come to help Ahntas with Daniel. He moved quickly to the side, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and arms lifted him and carried him towards the bed. "Heihn!" he shouted, determined not to go without a fight. "Heihn! Heihn!"

"Mosa, Dannul," Ahntas said, putting a hand over Daniel's face. "Ahntas gehend." _I will come back._

That was the last thing Daniel knew for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After Dannul's resistance to resting, the entire team met in the observation room. That way, they could keep an eye on their charges while they slept and discuss what they were going to do. It was worrisome to all of them that Dannul was suspicious, and they had to regain his trust. At the present time, he was the one who had learned the most, and if he stopped learning, then communication—_true_ communication—would be delayed.

"Well, you've said it yourself, Ahntas, he's very intelligent. I think we underestimated him. He was able to figure out that we've been keeping him from his friends on purpose," Tehere said glumly. "Now what?"

"I don't know," Ahntas admitted. "He actually fought to stay awake. I think that he won't cooperate any further until we reunite him with the others."

"What will that do to their learning rate, though?" Liora pointed out. "I mean, will they keep learning, or will they stop? You know what's riding on this. They're the first intelligent species we've ever come across, and they showed up shortly after the Wheel was uncovered. They had to have come through it. We've already figured out that it's some sort of travel device, and it's clear that they came through it. They hold the secret of making it work."

"Yes, but will they want to share that secret with us?" Soro pointed out. "From the equipment they were carrying, we can safely say they are explorers and from a civilization comparable to our own, but who sent them? What exactly were they supposed to do here? How long were they supposed to stay? Will some government interpret our keeping them here as a hostile act?"

"Well, nothing's happened so far," Tehere shrugged. "I say we wait. The security team guarding the temple and the Wheel can tell us if anyone else comes, and they can make sure they hurt no one and they don't get hurt and then bring them here."

"That still doesn't solve our problem with Dannul," Ahntas said bleakly. "I hated to force him asleep like that—you know, he actually looked _frightened_ before he fell asleep! If he's become frightened of us…." He trailed off, not quite sure what would happen.

"Well, there's one solution that will solve our problems nicely," Liora said, sounding thoughtful. Everyone turned to look at her. "We could reunite them. Dannul would begin to trust us again, and what if he began to teach the others all he knows already? Sam and Jack are learning, but Dannul's the one who seems to do the best. Won't their learning be that much faster if it were Dannul teaching them? With _us_ teaching, it's a lot of miming and guesswork."

"What if they start to count on Dannul to translate for them all the time?" Ahntas countered. "It would be better if we could communicate with all four, instead of just Dannul."

"Why don't we try telling Dannul that?" Soro suggested. "He understands enough of what we say to understand that!"

Ahntas, as well as the rest of the team, had to admit that was very true.

"All right, we'll try reuniting them in the morning," Tehere said, rising from his seat. "No sense in waking them up now since it's night already. We've been talking here for longer than we realize, yet again. Get some rest, everyone."

Wearily, the team made its way to their quarters, each one thinking his or her own thoughts. If this plan worked; if it didn't…no one wanted to think of that. So much was riding on their work here. It was their first contact with an entirely different species of intelligent beings, and you only had one chance alone to do it right.

Space

Daniel woke, lashing out at two beings who were no longer there, fighting against them in a reflex that he'd gained over the years with SG-1: go down swinging, and then come back up swinging, as Jack would say. It was probably due to his lingering nightmare: he'd dreamed that he was in the tentacles of a giant squid that was trying to teach him Octopusese.

_Easy, Daniel, _he thought to himself. _They're not here. You're alone._ He got slowly out of bed and looked around the room, wondering whether it was the following morning or still that night, and whether Ahntas was nearby or not. It wasn't as if he could look outside since there was no window to be seen anywhere. He walked a few steps, and the lights slowly grew brighter from their usual let-Daniel-sleep dimness. He still wondered how they worked, and he found himself thinking of pressure sensors under the carpeting and other little gadgets that Carter would love to play with and take apart.

He wandered over to the table and looked at all of the things that still lay scattered there. Ahntas had not taken the blocks, balls, toys, or books. Books? _Why_ hadn't he thought of those before? He could look at the books to pass the time, and maybe he would find something in them that could be helpful. A society's culture and values were always reflected in its written and recorded material. He could learn something that would help him deal with Ahntas, and perhaps he could make the jump from concrete to more abstract expression. That was all to the good, really. The sooner he learned to communicate, the sooner he found out why they were there.

He picked up the skinniest book there, looked at a few pages, and he realized that it was a primer, a book designed to teach reading! Wonderful! He sat down by the table and studied the first page. It was even designed like an English primer as well, which was all to the good as far as Daniel was concerned. A large symbol was printed at the top of the page, a picture below it, and then what was obviously a word beginning with that symbol. All words were written in a column, with the first symbol at the top. He saw a picture of a bed, and he stopped. He knew that word! Now, to learn how to read it. Was it an alphabet he was looking at, or was it a syllabary? Perhaps it was logograms or ideograms used as letters? If that was the case, then there would be perhaps several layers of meaning that he would be missing if he just learned to use the symbols as letters!

_Calm down,_ he told himself sternly. _You're thinking too much. Break this down into its simplest parts. Write each symbol down, and then try matching the sounds. See if the symbols function as letters or syllables first, then go from there._

That was just what he did. By the time he'd finished matching symbols with sounds, he'd learned that it was a syllabary, an "alphabet" where each symbol represented a sound of the language. "Litha," or "bed" was matched with two symbols, ones which Daniel had designated "lih" and "thah." It didn't seem possible that one could just give the "l" sound and the other give an "itha" sound because of the way the word was pronounced. "Li" was one sound, and "tha" was another. Having a syllabary that represented consonant and vowel combinations was a lot more sensible than having consonants and other combinations as well.

He found other pictures he recognized, and he was so glad that Ahntas had taught him simple words to begin with! He recognized a lot more than he thought he would. He even found the symbols for the syllables "gah" and "hag." It was just the same symbol turned around, which played out his "root" theory about the words for "hand" and "foot."

He'd matched three-quarters of the symbols (there were forty-five) with their sounds when his stomach growled. He was getting hungry, so that meant it was almost time to eat, and Ahntas always showed up to open the cupboard for him. By this time he'd learned exactly where it was located, but it never opened for him. He would have liked to open it on his own, though. He could have used something cool to drink while he'd been working.

Having learned all he could from the primer, he set it aside and opened one of the other books. After a few pages, he was sure he'd struck reading gold! It was a picture book, and each picture had a caption of one word that was telling him what the picture represented. Using that, he matched up the rest of the symbols with their sounds and he was certain he felt as the first man to translate hieroglyphics must have felt: astonished. Now that he knew the symbols and their sounds, the alien script was incredibly easy to read. Matching up the sounds and symbols again, he wrote his name, Ahntas' name, and his friends' names. Now he knew why his name and Teal'c's were pronounced so differently by Ahntas. The long "e" sound did not exist in this language. Interesting.

He was busy with writing all the words he knew using the syllabary when he sensed someone behind him. Turning, he saw it was Ahntas, and he said good morning.

"I'm really mad at you," Daniel told him, turning back to his writing. "You just can't force me to go to sleep whenever I want to do something you don't want me to do."

Ahntas sat down beside him and looked at what he was doing.

"Daniel tiera vie Sam, Jack, Teal'c mainta." "Mainta" was "now," and they'd covered it at some point, but Daniel really couldn't remember when. He continued. "Daniel heihn vie san, Daniel heihn por." That was easy enough to understand. _I want to see my friends. If I don't see them all, I'll stop working with you._

For an answer, Ahntas stood and went over to the far wall and placed his fingers against it. Just like the cupboard, an opening appeared, but this one looked like a door. Ahntas beckoned to him and said, "Vena, Dannul. Sam, Jack, Tilk."

Daniel didn't need to be told twice. He left the table and followed Ahntas, and he found himself in another room. In that room were Sam, Jack, and Teal'c.

"Guys!" Daniel shouted, hurrying over to them. "Finally! It's great to see you!"

"Good to see you, too, Daniel," Jack said, giving him a buddy-hug. "You okay? Talking the local lingo yet?"

"Some," Daniel admitted after greeting Sam and Teal'c. "Are all of you all right?"

"Going slightly crazy, but alive," Jack told him.

"I'm...fascinated by the technology," Sam said happily. "You won't believe the things they give me to look at! There's this cube with little circles and they slide all over the place--"

"I am fine as well, Daniel Jackson, and I am most glad to see you," Teal'c said, easily inserting his comment when Sam became too excited to talk.

"It's great to see all of you, too," Daniel said, feeling relaxed for the first time since their arrival. "It was kind of like pulling teeth to get them to let me see you!"

"I know the feeling," Jack muttered. "So, any ideas what they want with us, why they're keeping us here, that sort of thing?"

Daniel shrugged as they all sat down. "As far as I can tell, they're interested in communicating with us. All of my interactions with Ahntas has been centered around his teaching me the language."

"Ahntas? Is that what yours is called?" Sam asked, surprised.

Daniel nodded. "Who's yours?"

"Liora."

"Okay, before we go any further, let's pool our information and do a re-hash so we're all on the same page," Jack suggested.

"Gotcha," Daniel said, moving over to the table. "Let's jot everything down as we go, too. We'll be able to study it at our leisure."

"I love how these things write," Sam said, sitting down beside him as Jack and Teal'c followed. "What I want to know now is how they work."

"We'll ask once we have the time," Jack promised her. "Re-hash now, Major."

They shared their information with one another, and by the time they'd finished, all of them shared Daniel's knowledge and understanding of their teachers.

"So, rather than confrontation, they just put us to sleep," Jack grumbled. "Sounds like they're avoiding the issue to me."

"Well, I have a feeling that they're realizing they can't always do that to us and expect us to accept it without a complaint," Daniel pointed out. "Last night I asked to see you, and this morning I'm here."

"That took place with Soro also," Teal'c said. "The only difference is that I was not cooperating with his teaching."

Daniel fought down a smile: he was sure that Teal'c would not have been cooperative at any time.

"So, do you think that we could convince them to let us go? You know, go back through the Stargate to home?" Jack wanted to know.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you," Daniel confessed. "Ahntas hasn't mentioned the Stargate or anything about where I've come from. Perhaps he's not interested, or he's more interested in teaching us. There's no way I can know unless I find some way to ask him."

"Yeah, but would they know what you're asking?" Sam wondered. "Do you think drawing it would work?"

"Maybe, but once I learn the word and the associated terms, it will be a lot easier," Daniel said as he studied everything they'd scrawled down on the table.

Jack looked thoughtful as only Jack could. "What gets me is why they're so focused on language with us. I mean, wouldn't they also want to know where we came from? They _can't_ think the stork brought us."

The image of Jack O'Neill being carried by a stork while he was toting an MP5 was so hilarious that Daniel couldn't hide a smile. "Well, like I said a minute ago, there's been no mention of it to me. Anything about it to any of you?"

Everyone answered no. "Then it's settled," Daniel concluded. "They've asked none of us about the Stargate. That's...significant."

Teal'c looked at him. "In what way?"

"I have no idea." Everyone turned to look at Daniel. "I guess we'll have to work on finding that out."

Their teachers entered then, and it was then that Daniel noticed how _silently _they moved. Ahntas immediately went to Daniel's side and looked at the notes he'd written down on the tabletop. "Shia, Dannul. Dannul? Scrava, shpasa." _Write, please._

"Scrava?" Daniel repeated, writing Ahntas' name. "Daniel scrava. Daniel scrava eh por, Jack, Sam, Teal'c scrava eh por." That was the closest he could come to saying that he would like to teach his friends. Teaching them meant that they would have to see one another on a regular basis, and that was exactly what he wanted. He didn't want to be separated from them like that again. Every member of SG-1 saw the aliens shift colors so quickly and differently that they were amazed. What had just happened?

In the next moment they knew that the color shifts had been a form of communication, for Ahntas nodded his head. "Dannul scrava eh por. Sam, Jack, Teal'c scrava eh por. San aplan."

"Aplan? What's aplan?" Jack asked Daniel.

Daniel shrugged a reply. "It's a word I haven't heard before."

Ahntas, sensing the need for an explanation, began to speak. "Dannul aplan. Dannul aplan scrava. Dannal aplan por. Sam aplan. Sam aplan por." He stopped and placed his hand to the side of Daniel's head. "Aplan. Dannul aplan. Dannul aplan Ahntas," he stopped and placed his other hand on his own head before saying, "eh Ahntas aplan Dannul. Aplan."

Daniel thought about all Ahntas had said and what he'd done and the meaning became clear. "He's saying 'learn.' We'll all learn, and we've been learning about each other. He's just given us another verb."

"Call out the brass band; we've got a verb," Jack said snarkily.

Daniel ignored him and jotted it down. "Dannul aplan scrava," he said, pointing to himself. "Dannul--" he made a gesture towards his friends, indicating that he wanted the word for "teach" and said, "Scrava. Dannul," he repeated the gesture, "scrava Sam, Jack, Teal'c."

"Istrech!" Ahntas said, shifting pink. "Dannul istrech scrava. Dannul istrech por. Dannul istrech scrava eh por Sam, Jack, Teal'c. Ahntas istrech por Dannul."

"Merga," Daniel said, jotting it all down. "Daniel teaches or will teach writing, ditto speaking. Daniel will teach writing and speaking to his friends. Ahntas teaches, will teach, or perhaps in this case, taught Daniel to speak."

"Keihn! San aplan por avet Ghenta."

"Okay, I understood that first part," Sam said, looking confused. "We'll all learn to speak, but what does 'avet Ghenta' mean?"

Daniel went after the most obvious word first. "Ghenta?"

Ahntas pointed to himself, and then the rest of his team. "Ghenta. San Ghenta."

"A family name?" Teal'c wondered.

"More like a people or species name," Daniel said, thinking hard. "So, he's saying that we'll all learn to speak with the Ghenta. 'Avet' can't be anything else but 'with.'"

"Can you tell him who we are?" Jack asked. "You know, explain the Stargate?"

Daniel nodded, but Ahntas shook his head. "Jack por."

"Ah, heihn," Jack said. "Daniel, how do you say 'faster?'" At Daniel's shrug he continued. "Jack heihn por. Jack pors bad. You know how bad I talk, so let's let Daniel por for us, huh?"

"Heihn," Tehere said, sounding determined. "San aplan por, san por."

"Sam, Jack, Teal'c, Daniel san aplan por," Daniel said calmly, trying to project all of that calm and pseudo-confidence into his voice. "Sam, Jack, Teal'c, eh Daniel istrech Ghenta Sam, Jack, Teal'c, eh Daniel."

"I'd love to learn pronouns," Sam muttered. "Not to mention prepositions."

"I'd love to have the language downloaded into my brain," Daniel answered her.

"I don't recommend that," Jack said, sounding impatient. "Do you think they understood you?"

"Well, we're going to find out now," Daniel said, sounding thoughtful and turning to Ahntas. "Sam, Jack, Teal'c, eh Daniel san human. San Tau'ri."

"Tau'reh?" Ahntas repeated, shifting colors in such a way that Daniel was sure he was either surprised, confused, or...something.

Daniel nodded and quickly wrote the word in the syllabary characters. "Tau'ri."

Ahntas stood up very quickly, staring at the word, and then he looked at the rest of his team. All of them were wearing the same shocked expressions.

"Hey, wait!" Daniel cried, getting up. "What's the matter?"

"What did you say to them that's got them all upset, Daniel?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know!" Daniel snapped, very worrried as he took Ahntas' hand in an attempt to keep him from leaving. "Ahntas, qeh? Qeh?"

Ahntas re-took his seat and looked at Daniel. "Tau'reh?"

"Keihn. Tau'ri," Daniel assured him.

Ahntas drew something on the table, something that looked just like a Stargate. Then, he drew another. Pointing to the first, he said, "Tau'reh." Then, he pointed to the other. "Ghenta."

"He's asking if we came through the Stargate!" Daniel said, elated. "Keihn! Keihn!"

"Keihn!" Liora celebrated. She said a few syllables that no one in SG-1 caught, but she seemed happy. She sounded just like Carter did when one of her theories proved true.

"Shabbah," Ahntas said, pointing to the drawings. "Tau'reh shabbah Ghenta."

"We gated to Ghenta," Daniel translated. "Keihn, Tau'reh shabbah Ghenta. Tau'reh shabbah Ghenta aplan Ghenta. The Tau'ri gated to Ghenta to learn about you and the planet."

"Keihn," Ahntas said, sounding very glad. "Ban! Oldas ban! Oldas ban Tau'reh shabba Ghenta. Ghenta istrech Tau'reh por, scrava, lir. Ghenta istrech Tau'reh Ghenta!"

"Lir?" Jack echoed, looking to Daniel for an explanation.

"Well, he mentions speaking and writing, so 'lir' may be 'read.' Is 'lir' 'read?'" Daniel asked, pretending to hold a book up to his face. "Lir?"

"Ban!" Ahntas congratulated him. "Oldas ban!"

"So, we're going to learn all about the Ghenta," Daniel concluded.

"What about returning to Tau'ri?" Teal'c asked.

"I can try asking to see how they'd take us going back and if they'd let us do it," Daniel said. "Tau'reh shabbah Tau'reh?"

Ahntas shook his head. "Heihn. Tau'reh aplan Ghenta."

"Ah. That answers that. They want us to learn," Daniel said, sounding more than a bit worried. "I guess they intend to keep us here until we do."

Jack glanced at Tehere. "That's not what I want to hear," Jack told Daniel. "Can you tell them that we can't stay?"

"I don't have the word for 'stay,'" Daniel protested.

"Then tell them we want to go!"

"I don't have that word either!" Daniel snapped. "Let's try communicating what we want before we start screaming at one another." Daniel took a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking. Then, he smiled. "Sam, vena," he said, motioning for Sam to approach him. She did, and he motioned her away and said her name. Then, he did it again. Five tries later, Ahntas understood what they wanted and supplied the word "veh."

"Merga," Daniel said, nodding to Ahntas. "Tau'ri veh Tau'ri."

"Heihn," Liora said, sounding a bit regretful. "Tau'reh mana Ghenta."

"Remain?" Carter guessed, hearing the word 'mana.' "Is that it?"

Ahntas, sensing their confusion, stood and walked. "Veh." Then, he stopped and sat down. "Mana."

"Okay, so we now have the word for stay," Daniel said, quickly jotting the new words down. "Tau'ri heihn mana Ghenta. Tau'ri veh Tau'ri."

"Heihn," Soro said, stepping forward. "San Tau'ri mana Ghenta."

"Heihn," Daniel insisted. "Tau'ri veh Tau'ri. Heihn mana." He saw Ahntas rub the top of his head in exasperation, and a color-shift that meant his patience was wearing very thin.

"Heihn," Tehere said, moving to the room's cupboard. "Ahteh mainta." _Eat, now. _Tehere was saying that it was time for breakfast.

"No, no, no, no, no," Jack said, shaking his head in disgust. "The _last _thing I want to do right now is eat. I want to settle the question of when we're leaving."

"I have a feeling they will not discuss it, O'Neill," Teal'c told him.

"Well, _I_ wanna discuss it," Jack pointed out. "Daniel, could you translate? We have to return home. We want to go back to Earth now."

Daniel sighed. "Shpasa. Tau'ri veh Tau'ri mainta. Tau'ri tiera veh Tau'ri mainta."

Tehere actually looked regretful. "Heihn. Tau'ri mana Ghenta." He motioned to the rest of the Ghenta, and they left as one after placing breakfast on the table for SG-1. Daniel and his friends looked at one another, wondering what they could do to get themselves home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Daniel began to notice changes in his daily routine after his first meeting with his friends, and he noticed other things as well. Every morning when he woke the door to what everyone was calling the "lounge" was open, allowing him to meet his friends for breakfast. The "lounge" was a room a little larger than their bedrooms and apparently all of their rooms connected to it, but in contrast to their bedrooms, but it was full of things to look at and examine.

The second day they were all together, everyone went into the lounge and stared, not certain what to think.

"What do you make of this, Daniel?" Jack had asked, slowly revolving on one heel. Everything looked very different from the day before.

"It looks like they've brought in all these things to educate us with," Daniel said after giving the room a cursory examination. "Thank goodness. I was beginning to get bored with nothing to look at."

As they found out, there was plenty to look at in the lounge. Large, brightly-colored cushions large enough to sit on (or even lie down on) were heaped in a pile in the center of the floor, as were several throw rugs to wrap up in if one were cold or sleepy. There were pictures hung on the walls, what looked like a tapestry or flag hanging in the corner from a pole, and shelving units had been moved in. Those shelves were full of books (which were packed with pictures and text) and several other things: stones, seeds, potted plants of all kinds, bits of animal skins and fur, pieces of fabric, bits of metals, and models of different animals native to the planet. There were even a few small animals in cages or tanks: an aquarium full of native fish, tiny little furballs that squeaked, two birds that chirped, and several tiny reptiles and amphibians. (The Ghenta made it very clear that the Tau'ri were responsible for the care of their "pets," so everyone took turns.) There were models of buildings (temples, houses, and others none of the Tau'ri could figure out) and there were a few models of what appeared to be vehicles and tools. Even more appeared in the lounge as time went by. A large board had been hung up on one wall that was made out of the same material as the writing tables, and Daniel easily saw it could be used as a blackboard during language lessons with the rest of SG-1. Supplies of what appeared to be paper were brought in, as were different-colored sticks that resembled crayons and colored pencils, and a tub of modelling compound (Sam said it wasn't clay, it seemed to be a malleable plastic) appeared as well on one of the bottom shelves. Several containers of large beads, blocks, and balls were used for learning the Ghenta number system. A model of their solar system hung from the ceiling, and that ceiling was painted to represent the night sky. An audio player that Ahntas taught Daniel to operate allowed them to hear samples of Ghenta music and singing as well as spoken selections. They couldn't tell if it were someone reading something or just speaking, but it was interesting to hear all the same. Maps were hung up, showing all the continents, mountains, oceans, and waterways of the planet. They were even shown on a map where they were and how close the Stargate was, and Carter predicted that it was only a mile and a half. More than once Jack commented that he felt as if he were back in kindergarten.

Breakfast was always waiting on the table in the lounge for them when they woke up, and they woke up usually near or at the same time every day. They would eat, put the dirty dishes and leftover food away in the cupboard (it was always replaced with clean dishes and fresh food, but they couldn't figure out how) and with the arrival of their Ghenta instructors, language lessons would begin. The Ghenta would not allow SG-1 to rely on Daniel as a translator, but they would allow him to clarify concepts and abstracts for the rest of the team on either side. Their fluency increased so much that the Ghenta were delighted. With pictures and manipulatives and objects at their disposal, they quickly moved into abstract concepts like numbers, feelings, thoughts, and time. They learned that their history spanned a little over seven hundred solar revolutions and that there was evidence of an advanced culture all over the planet that pre-dated theirs. The Stargate was a fairly recent discovery, first found four revolutions ago. Inscriptions in the temple where it was located called it a Shabbah, and it was a gateway to other worlds among the stars.

"Okay, so they know what a Stargate is supposed to do," Jack had said when they learned that bit of information. "Why are they bothering with us?"

"Because we came through it?" Sam suggested. "Maybe they're hoping we could tell them how to work it."

"Also, there's that advanced culture that was here before theirs to think about," Daniel pointed out. "What if all of the things they're unearthing are all that's left of the human culture that was transplanted here by a System Lord? If it was a human culture, then what happened to it, and what if they've found human remains and made the connection to us?"

"That may be so, Daniel Jackson, but if it is, then from where did the Ghenta come?" Teal'c said thoughtfully.

That was a question no one could answer easily, and no one on SG-1 could think of a way to ask it.

After lunch with the Ghenta, SG-1 would be given sandals to wear, and they would go outside with their "teachers." Outside was a large, enclosed space, sort of like a central courtyard, but there was no way to the outside world from there. There were flat spaces covered with grass, small flower gardens, awnings and trees for shade, benches, pathways, and what could only be called a gym to the left. They spent the afternoons walking around the garden, running races, playing games (Jack introduced basketball, baseball, and football while Carter introduced volleyball) or working out with the Ghenta on equipment that could easily be adjusted for their use. Often, SG-1 would explain the type of equipment they wanted, and the Ghenta were always more than happy to get it for them and learn what games they were playing or exercises they were doing.

"I wonder how they figured out how to do that," Daniel commented one afternoon, referring to the equipment. "I mean, we are a lot smaller than they are. Compared to them, we're the size of eight-year-olds_. Small_ eight-year-olds, really."

"Speak for yourself, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, giving his teammate a slight smile. "I am at least the size of a ten-year-old."

After working out, everyone would head to his or her rooms to shower and change, and then there would be an hour or so of simple talk with the Ghenta before supper and bed.

Another change that Daniel and the rest of SG-1 noticed was that there were now new doors in their rooms, leading to a bathroom and necessary. That was when Daniel realized that during his first few "days" with the Ghenta he hadn't needed to use a toilet or take a shower. When he mentioned that to his friends one evening over supper (another meal the Ghenta allowed them to have to themselves), Carter remarked that they probably had a way of taking care of that for them while they'd been sleeping, but none of them cared for what that implied.

"Who knows how long we've been here?" Jack muttered. "We could have been asleep for weeks when they were doing that hand thing to make us sleep."

"That's been worrying me, but they've told me we've only been here for three of their weeks," Daniel pointed out. "I don't think they can really lie, shifting colors like they do. It would be like a built-in lie detector."

"Okay, three of their weeks makes...ooh," Carter said, working out the calculations on a table. "General Hammond's got to be going crazy by now. We've been here five and a half Earth weeks."

"We were only supposed to remain here for twenty-four hours," Teal'c said, seeming concerned. "Surely he's sent other teams after us."

"Yeah, but if he has, then where are they? They had guards in that temple where the gate was, and if we were caught so easily, then it stands to reason that any other teams that come through that gate would be caught as well. If they caught other teams, wouldn't they bring them here?" Jack wanted to know.

Daniel shrugged. "I guess we have no way of knowing. I wonder what they've done with all of our equipment?"

"I'm not worried about any of it except our GDOs," Colonel O'Neill muttered. "I don't think General Hammond will keep the door open for us if he thinks we may have been compromised by the Ga'ould or anything else. Why else would we be gone so long?"

"This is a nightmare," Sam groaned. "I mean, we can't stay here forever."

"Yeah, but how do we make the Ghenta believe that?" Daniel wondered. "They want us to stay and learn about them and learn their language, and they want to learn about us."

"I'm sick of school," Jack snapped. "I wanna graduate already!"

"I feel the same way, O'Neill," Teal'c assured him. "However, I do not think the Ghenta intend to let us go."

"What if we offered to take one of them home with us?" Daniel offered. "You know, we're here on their planet learning about them, what if one of them stayed on our planet learning about us?"

"Why do that when they've got all the information they want right here?" O'Neill countered. "All they have to do is ask us and boom, they've got answers."

"They want to know all about us, yeah, but there are some things they're not asking," Daniel said thoughtfully.

Everyone looked at him. "What do you mean?" Teal'c asked.

"Well, they've asked us very little about us personally. Nothing about our families, and nothing about how we know what we already know. Nothing about our education on Earth. Nothing about the Stargate, other than "Did you come through it?" They didn't ask why we came through it or how it works. They didn't ask if we came through on our own or if someone sent us. There have been no questions about our equipment. Also, they've not asked about our group or why the four of us are together or what our relationships to one another are. They haven't even asked why Teal'c has a symbiote. Why aren't they asking us these things?" Daniel stopped and took a breath. "I think that there's something going on that they're keeping from us or something that we're not seeing. Why? I mean, they have to have told someone about us, right? There are other people on this planet aside from Ahntas, Liora, Soro, and Tehere. They weren't the ones guarding the Stargate, so where is everyone else? What about the other people who have to know about us?"

"I see what you're saying," Jack said, standing up and beginning to pace. "Who are the grand high pooh-bahs they report to, and why haven't we been introduced to them yet? Is that it?"

Daniel nodded, and Sam began to look worried. "Oh, God, I hope that this planet doesn't have an equivalent to Colonel Maybourne."

"Don't even think it, Carter," O'Neill warned her. "You'll put a jinx on us."

"Now that I've thought about it I can't stop thinking about it," she muttered. "I think it's only a matter of time before something bad happens."

Jack groaned. "Why do I feel as if you've already jinxed us?"

"Maybe we are already...'jinxed,'" Teal'c replied. "Our only worry now is, in what way are we jinxed?"

"I don't want to think about it," Daniel said, thinking about in all the ways things could go wrong. He didn't know then that something was going to happen that no one expected.

Space

The next morning Jack, Teal'c, and Sam were in the lounge, waiting for Daniel to show up for breakfast, but he was close to a half-hour late.

"If he's not here in the next ten minutes, I'm going in there with a pitcher of water and dump it over his head," Jack grumbled. "What's taking him so long? That thing won't open unless we're all in the same room!"

"Perhaps he is tired," Teal'c suggested in an attempt to keep the peace.

"Perhaps he needs to get his rear in gear," Jack answered.

Shortly afterward, Daniel wandered in, looking very white and wide-eyed. He looked as if he had had a very, very rough night, and as soon as the rest of his team got a good look at him, they shot to their feet and demanded to know what was wrong.

"What happened, Daniel?" Jack asked, reaching out to take Daniel's arm in order to lead him to a seat. "What's wrong?"

Daniel pulled away. "Please don't...touch me," he said, his voice raspy. "I don't think I could take it right now."

"Daniel, what happened? What's wrong?" Sam asked, worried. "Can you tell us?"

Daniel sank onto the floor cross-legged and looked at all of his friends while twisting his hands in his lap. "I don't know how to tell you, and I really don't want to."

"Can you try? We may have to know," Teal'c prompted, sitting down a few feet away. Jack and Sam followed his example.

"All right, but don't make me tell it more than once," Daniel said, shivering. "Could I have a blanket, please?" Jack passed him one, and once he was wrapped up in it, he took a deep breath and said, "Sha're was with me last night."

They all stared at him. "Daniel," Jack began. "Sha're is..."

"I know she's dead," Daniel cut him off. "I know. It's just that she...or someone who looked like her...was with me last night, and...a lot of things happened."

Sam nodded. "Okay, things. Are they the things I'm thinking of and are you certain they happened?"

"I wasn't dreaming, if that's what you mean," Daniel answered, still shivering. "I know I was awake. I had just gone to bed, and she was there, and..." He stopped, fighting to keep his voice steady. "Whatever it was, it wasn't human, and what happened was not...what I had with Sha're. Sha're was Abydonian, and Abydonians are always very...gentle and loving with one another, especially wives and husbands. That wasn't Sha're, and right now I feel so awful I want to die!" In the next instant, Daniel was sobbing, his knees drawn up to his chest and his face resting on them. He looked like a little kid that had just lost faith in the entire world.

"Daniel," Jack said, trying to comfort him. "Come on, now, talk to us. Talk to us."

Daniel shook his head. "When I woke up this morning I went right into the shower and stayed there, but no matter how many times I washed I couldn't feel better. What happened was...very intense. I don't know what really happened or who it was or even _what_, but now I want to go back to Earth and forget everything that happened here! I want to go!"

"Trust me, I know you do," Jack said. "Don't doubt that we want to leave and get you out of here. But first, we have to find out how to get out."

"What if she comes back?" Daniel demanded.

"None of us are gonna sleep alone until we get back home," Jack promised. "We're not going to leave you alone for a second."

At that, Daniel broke and crumpled over sobbing. Jack guided him to a pillow and made him sit down, asking Sam to get Daniel something to drink.

"Right," Sam said, turning to face the now-open cupboard. Then, she stopped and stared at it, wondering if it could be that simple. "Oh, I am so _stupid_! Sir, what about the cupboard?"

"What about it?"

"Well, they have to put the food in, and it's pretty big...what if it has more than one opening? How else would the food get in there?"

"I will go," Teal'c said grimly.

"Teal'c, what if it doesn't work like Carter's thinking?" Jack pointed out. "You could run out of air, be transported someplace..."

"Or it could be our way out," Teal'c argued. "Allow me to try, O'Neill. Please."

O'Neill nodded, and Teal'c swept everything out of the cupboard before climbing into it. He waited and slowly, the opening closed, shutting him off from the lounge. A moment later, another opening on the opposite side opened, disclosing a large room that looked like a laboratory. He slipped out and looked around, and a moment later he spotted Liora standing in front of a table, examing a few items. He saw a digital video recorder, Daniel Jackson's tape recorder, their radios, their GDOs, Major Carter's soil-testing apparatus, and a zat nik'tel (or, as O'Neill would have called it, a zat gun). At the moment, Liora was examining a radio and she was paying no attention to her surroundings.

He moved very quietly, silently congratulating Major Carter for her solution, and approached the table. Liora looked at him the moment his hand touched the zat, and in the next moment, she was on the floor and unconscious. He heard feet running as he looked around, searching for the door to the lounge in order to let his friends out. Tehere rushed into the room, and Teal'c zatted him, still looking for the door. Soro came in, pulling out what looked like a weapon, but Teal'c fired at him before he could even use it. Realizing his strategy was ineffective, Teal'c hid himself quickly and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. Ahntas came in, carrying a few things, but he dropped them when he saw all three of his colleagues unconscious on the floor. In the next moment, Teal'c had the zat pointed at his head.

"Show me the door to the lounge," he snapped in Ghenta. "Let my friends out."

"Tilk, what are you doing?" Ahntas asked. "How did you get in here?"

"Let my friends out, or I will shoot you," Teal'c said. "Now."

Ahntas nodded and with Teal'c watching his every move, went to the nearest wall and laid his hand against it. A door appeared and opened, revealing the lounge and the rest of SG-1.

"Carter, remind me to put you and Teal'c in for commendations!" Jack said, pulling Daniel to his feet. "C'mon, Danny boy, we're getting out of here!"

Hurriedly, Carter and O'Neill led Daniel out of the room, and it seemed to Teal'c that he wasn't well. He was still very white, his eyes were glazed, and he didn't look as if he were thinking. In fact, he almost looked catatonic.

Ahntas stared at them. "Dannul, what is the matter?" he asked.

"As if you didn't know!" Jack snapped. "Let's go, people!"

"We shall bring Ahntas with us," Teal'c said. "We may not be able to operate the doors."

"Good thinking, Teal'c," Jack told him. "Lead us outside, Ahntas," he added in Ghenta. "Now."

"Why?" Ahntas asked, staring at all of them. "Why are you doing this?"

"We're leaving," Jack told him. "Now shut up and take us outside."

Ahntas had no choice. He led them through what turned out to be a vast compound, and fortunately, they met no one. Once he opened the last door and Jack was certain there was no gate, force field, or anything else to get in their way, he had Teal'c zat him.

"Let's go, we're only a mile and a half from the gate," Jack said. "C'mon, Daniel, we're almost there."

Half an hour later, they were away from the road leading to the compound and into the forest, and their feet were thoroughly miserable. "We should have grabbed our sandals, sir!" Carter said, stepping on yet another rock.

"They'll have band-aids at the base!" Jack answered. "Let's keep moving!"

They reached the temple, and Jack was sure that there was no sight as wonderful as that in the world, except perhaps for an activated Stargate. They rushed inside, with Teal'c still keeping guard on their back as he had for the entire trip.

"All right, Carter, dial us home!"

"Sir..."

That was when they all got a good look at the gate and they knew why Hammond hadn't sent any teams after them: it had been covered. There was no way they could get home.

Space

Ahntas came to with an awful headache, certain that he had dreamed the Tau'ri shooting him. Why had they done that? Why had they suddenly tried to leave? What was going on around here?

He was certain that it had to do with their visitor.

He went back to the lab to see if Liora and the others were awake, and he found them just sitting up, rubbing their heads.

"They're gone," Ahntas said, helping them up. "Where's Korh?"

"Korh? He's left. He left last night; said he had all the information he needed. Why?"

"Well, something happened to Dannul, and I think that's what spurred the Tau'ri to leave," Ahntas explained. "They were all upset, and Dannul...he looked as if he'd lost his mind. What was it that Korh said he wanted to find out?"

"What didn't he want to find out? I think that man has no shame," Soro muttered. "You think he did something last night?"

"What other explanation do we have?" Ahntas snapped. "Of all people they send to check up on us, why did it have to be Korh?"

"Do you think the Tau'ri will listen to explanations?" Tehere wondered.

"How will we explain to them? They're gone!" Ahntas reminded them.

"Where would they go? They're most likely still at the Shabbah since Korh had it covered. Let's see if we can catch them," Soro pointed out. "If they're still there, we can bring them back, but something tells me we'll have to fight to do it."

"All right, let's go," Ahntas said, sounding doubtful. "Just watch out for the weapon Tilk has."

Space

"Do you think we can zat it?" Carter asked, examining the cover.

"I'm willing to try it," O'Neill said, sounding worried. "C'mon, Daniel, try to keep awake, there."

"I will carry him if need be," Teal'c said, aiming at the cover. He fired, once, twice, three times, and the cover dissolved.

"Yes! We are goin' home! Dial, Carter!"

Carter dialled and then dialled the GDO, and with a whoosh, the Stargate burst to life. Once the event horizon was stable and Teal'c had picked up Daniel, they started towards it, looking forward to going home.

"Stop!" Ahntas shouted, running into the temple. "Stop, Jack!"

"Go!" O'Neill shouted, running and waving his team ahead of himself. "Teal'c, get Daniel through!"

There was the usual vertigo associated with gate travel, but in the next instant, O'Neill found himself rolling down the familiar ramp at the SGC and hearing the alarms.

"Home sweet home!" Jack shouted, getting up from the ramp as the gate closed behind him. "Boy, is it good to hear those sirens!"

"SG-1, where the HELL have you been?" Hammond demanded, standing at the bottom of the ramp while the airmen kept their guns up. "And who is that?"

O'Neill looked, and he saw Ahntas lying on the ramp behind them, holding his head and looking around as if he were sure he was dreaming.

"How the heck did he make it through the gate before it closed? He was all the way at the entrance of the temple, and that place was big," Sam said, amazed.

"Long legs," Jack said. "Just...put him in a holding cell or something, Daniel needs to go to the infirmary pronto! They did something to him, we don't know what..."

"Don't worry," Dr. Frasier said, leading in a medical team. "You're all going right now."

"Right. SG-1, report to the infirmary, sergeant, take..him to the tallest holding cell we've got."

Ahntas didn't say a thing as he was led away, and he still looked as if he were certain he was dreaming everything he was seeing.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ahntas was certain that he was a dead Ghenta. After the Stargate closed, he was escorted by Tau'ri with weapons into a room and left there. It was very plain and cramped, and he had a hard time feeling comfortable in such a small space. A Tau'ri might have been comfortable, but a Ghenta had no hope of enjoying a prolonged period in that room.

Even more worrisome were the expressions on everyone's faces when they looked at him. After working so closely with Dannul and the other Tau'ri for the past several weeks he had become quite adept at reading human facial expressions and every face he saw did not look happy to see him. For the first time in his life, Ahntas fully understood the word "alien." Here, he was an alien, and not considered a life form equal to the Tau'ri. He was an outsider, and he could tell that he was not trusted.

His largest worry was Dannul. He had become quite attached to the little Tau'ri and felt responsible for his well-being. What had _happened_ to make him like that? The only cause he could think of was their old friend, Korh. Korh was a researcher for the government of Ghenta, and while good at his job, he was unscrupulous in many ways. Often, if he felt he should do something, then he did it without a thought to the consequences or what effect it would have. The only results he focused on were the results he wanted (and those that would reflect well on him), and Ahntas had a strong suspicion that Korh had carried out an experiment that Tehere had vetoed the day before.

Korh had wanted to learn about the way the Tau'ri mated and reproduced, but Tehere had told him that he was not going to carry out such an experiment since they did not know what effects it would have on the Tau'ri. Unfortunately, it appeared that Korh had carried out the experiment after all and that he'd chosen Dannul to perform it on.

How was he going to explain to the Tau'ri just what had happened? The Ghenta had the technology to simulate a lover and measure the subject's reactions (the technology was used in examining Ghenta sexual response and analyzing health effects), but what effect would that technology have on an alien race? Remembering Dannul's catatonic condition, Ahntas felt it was safe to assume that it was clearly a negative response. Even worse, it appeared to be detrimental. How could he explain to them and Dannul that there was no person with him the night before but just a mental construct created by one very unethical scientist who had "peeked" into Dannul's brain? What was even worse, how could he make Dannul understand that his body had responded to something that had been fed into his mind, making him think it was real?

_Ahntas, you are in the worst trouble of your life._

Space

"How are you feeling, Daniel?" Dr. Frasier asked, standing by his bed. "Do you feel like talking a little bit?"

Daniel shook his head.

"I meant just talking to me, telling me how you're feeling, that sort of thing," she persisted. "I know you don't want to talk about what happened to you yet."

"Yet," Daniel croaked. "You make it sound so inevitable. If I talk about it, then I'll have to think about it, and I'm not sure I can stand that."

"Well, I'm no psychiatrist, but I think that talking about it might make you feel better. You know you can talk to me, don't you?"

Daniel nodded. "I know. I just…don't want to. Not right now, and not to anyone. You understand?" he added hopefully, praying she wouldn't insist.

She nodded. "Well, if you need a listening ear, I'm right here, and if I happen not to be here, I can be here very shortly. Would you like anything to eat or drink? Colonel O'Neill told me that you guys left the planet before breakfast this morning, and it's past lunchtime now."

Daniel shook his head. "No, thanks. I don't think I could eat."

"Well, how about drinking? You need to keep your fluid levels up."

This time, Daniel nodded. "Just something…cool, I guess."

"All right, I'll have the commissary send something up for you. In the meantime, try to rest a little. Go to sleep if you want, and I'll be back to check on you later."

Daniel nodded, and after giving a nurse orders to keep an eye on him, Dr. Frasier headed to General Hammond's office. Hammond had ordered her to keep him apprised of Daniel's condition and to inform him of anything that changed. Well, something had. Daniel had finally acknowledged the people around him and had begun talking again. Those were changes, and his condition was improving. Slowly, yes, but improving.

"Any idea of what happened exactly?" she heard Hammond saying as she reached the door.

"Sure, I can tell what happened," O'Neill answered. "Somehow Daniel was…raped by…something."

"That's pretty vague, Colonel," Hammond pointed out.

"Well, it's a vague situation," O'Neill muttered. "We didn't exactly stick around to ask questions, sir. We were thinking about Daniel's well-being, and we figured that we had to get him out of there. He was afraid of it happening again."

"I'm not saying that you didn't do the right thing," Hammond told them as Frasier stood at the open door. She could see Teal'c and Major Carter sitting very quietly beside Jack, listening. "I'm just saying I wish we had more information about what happened. That's all." He spotted Dr. Frasier and motioned her into the office. "Dr. Frasier. How is Dr. Jackson?"

"Is he talking yet?" Jack demanded.

"Well, his condition is improving, and he has spoken to me, but he refuses to talk about what happened to him since talking about it means he will have to think about it," she said, entering the office and sitting down in the first available chair. "He doesn't want to eat, but I've convinced him to drink something. What I'm most worried about--and it goes without saying--is his mental well-being. Physically, he's fine. Whatever it was that happened to him has had a profound effect on him, and the fact that he's refusing to talk about it is not a positive sign. Closing all of that emotion away is asking for trouble. That's something every pre-med student learns in undergrad psych courses. He _needs_ to talk about what happened and come to terms with it. Avoiding it…well, it's only going to cause him problems. He may be thinking about it right now, dwelling on what happened, and we can't help him work through it because he won't talk about it to us."

"So I should put in a call to Dr. Mackenzie," Hammond said, still looking concerned.

"No, that'll just make him think that we think he's crazy!" Jack protested. "Right now, he's probably feeling pretty worthless, and that'll just make him _certain_ he's worthless!"

Teal'c looked at him. "Explain, O'Neill."

"Wait, I understand," Sam jumped in. "He's probably wondering why he didn't try to stop what was happening or fight against it or resist in some way, so he may have drawn the conclusion that he's weak. Calling in Dr. Mackenzie might confirm to him that he's weak. I mean, why call in Dr. Mackenzie if he weren't weak somehow?"

"I understand," Teal'c said, looking thoughtful. "But we all know how strong Daniel Jackson is. Daniel Jackson has done many things laudable in a warrior, let alone a scholar, and he knows all he has done. Why should he think he is weak?"

"Well, because of what happened," Sam explained. "Daniel may be feeling that he's weak for allowing what happened to happen."

"It was not his fault," Teal'c pointed out.

"He may believe it is," Sam persisted. "Sometimes, Tau'ri believe that bad things happen to them because they've done something to make them happen or because they did nothing to prevent them."

Teal'c nodded. "The same views occur on Chulak also. I see."

"Well, the main question now is, what do we do to help?" General Hammond asked. "Do we call in Dr. Mackenzie? None of us are really counselors, and we're certainly not trained for dealing with this sort of trauma."

Janet looked very thoughtful. "What if we had Dr. Mackenzie and someone else work with Daniel? Someone very close to him? Someone he trusts?"

Everyone looked at Jack, and he quickly realized what they were thinking. "I'm all for it," he said. "Right now I'll do anything to help Daniel feel better, but what if we went one step further?"

"I don't understand your meaning, Colonel," General Hammond said as patiently as he could.

"Well, Daniel's been pretty disconnected for a lot of his life," Jack explained. "Lost his parents, that whole thing, but he had a family on Abydos. Now that Skarra's back there with Kasuf, he's got two family members there: a brother and a dad. What if we brought them here to see him? Remind him that he doesn't have to go through this alone? You know, we'll stand with him, but there are others out there who care about him, too. What do you think?"

"I think you and Major Carter have a go for a mission to Abydos," was all that General Hammond said. "We'll send a message and as soon as we get a response, you'll go and see Kasuf and Skarra. Good idea, Colonel. In the meantime, I'll get a hold of Dr. Mackenzie and Teal'c and I will talk to this Ahntas who came back with you. Maybe we'll learn something. Doctor, please keep an eye on Dr. Jackson. Dismissed, everyone."

With something to do, everyone felt a bit better about the situation, but unspoken among all of them were worries about Daniel and what ramifications Ahntas' presence would have on the SGC.

Space

O'Neill always liked going to Abydos. After Sha're's death and Skarra's return home, the SGC had given Kasuf a GDO just in case they needed to come through the Stargate, and the SGC had set up an early warning system designed to let the Abydonians know when the gate was in use. They fired up the gate to let the Abydonians know they were coming, shut it down, and waited. Then, when they were sure that someone had had time to get to the gate, they fired it back up and Jack and Sam headed through.

Once they'd reached the other side, they saw the two people they were hoping to meet: Kasuf and Skarra.

"O'Neill!" Skarra said, his face breaking into a grin. "It is good to see you!"

"Good to see you, Skarra," O'Neill told him, pulling the younger man into a one-armed hug. "How's life?"

"I am to be married!" Skarra told him, his smile growing. "Father found for me a bride!"

"Well, congratulations! Kasuf, good to see you. Congratulations!" Sam told him, shaking his hand. She had to fight down a laugh once she saw Jack's dumbstruck face. Oh, of all the times to need a camera!

"It is a joy to us, Major Carter," Kasuf said, giving a little bow and smiling. "Why is Daniel not with you? We had hoped to see him."

"Honestly, Daniel's back on Tau'ri, and he's not doing so well," Jack said, allowing his worry for his friend to show. "We were exploring a planet and something happened to him."

"What has happened?" Skarra and Kasuf said together, clearly as worried as Jack was.

"A strange kind of demon forced him to lie with her," Sam explained, using some of Daniel's terms. "He is very hurt in spirit, but I think the strongest hurt is that it wore your daughter's face while it took him."

Kasuf looked horrified and gasped a few words in Abydonian. "Oh, we must go to him immediately! Now!"

"We were hoping you'd say something like that," Jack said. "Dial us home, Carter."

"Gladly, sir," she said, dialling the DHD and the GDO. "We'll be home in no time."

Space

When a Tau'ri and Tilk came to see him, Ahntas felt as if he were watching his own death approaching. The Tau'ri looked very grim, and Tilk looked even grimmer.

"Shia, Ahntas," Tilk said, stepping forward. "Sheh General Hammond. General Hammond tiera por avet Ahntas."

"Ahntas por avet General Hammond," Ahntas said, shifting colors.

"Teal'c, what just happened to him?" Hammond asked, surprised.

"The Ghenta shift colors when their emotion changes. When we entered, he was nervous and he is still nervous now, but he is somewhat hopeful as well."

"Well, good, let's hope he cooperates then," General Hammond said, turning to Ahntas. "Tell us what happened to Dr. Jackson."

Teal'c translated, and Ahntas shifted colors so much that for a moment it looked as if he were a gigantic tie-dye accident, but he nodded and began to speak. When he was finished speaking, Hammond turned to Teal'c, waiting for an explanation.

"He says that a scientist the government had sent to check on their progress with us performed an experiment upon Daniel Jackson without their knowledge or consent, and his present condition is a result of that experiment."

"Go on," Hammond prompted when Teal'c stopped.

"He also said that this scientist, Korh, is very unscrupulous. He was trying to..." Teal'c paused to search for words, and said some Ghenta words. Ahntas replied, nodding, and Teal'c continued. "He was interested in how Tau'ri mate and reproduce. There is a device used by Ghenta doctors that simulates the act of love within a patient's mind, even down to creating physical sensations. He says that since the machine is a Ghenta device, it may have been too difficult for Daniel Jackson to undergo its use."

"That's a very convenient explanation," Hammond pointed out. "How do we know he's telling the truth?"

Teal'c spoke a few words and glared at Ahntas, who shifted colors and said something. "He says he speaks the truth, General Hammond."

"Mm-hmm," General Hammond muttered, wondering what to do now.

"Dannul? Dannul ban?"

"He wishes to know how Daniel Jackson is," Teal'c translated. "What should I tell him?"

"Tell him that he's resting," Hammond said. "And then tell him that we'll be back to talk to him later."

Teal'c gave a small bow and complied, following General Hammond out as he left. When they reached the elevator, Hammond turned to ask Teal'c what he thought, but Teal'c beat him to it.

"Of all of them, Ahntas is the most honest, General," Teal'c said, gazing off into space. "He is also the most...likeable. The most personable. It was very clear to me while on Ghenta that he cared a good deal for Daniel Jackson, and it is clear to me now that he is distressed that harm has come to him. I do not think he is lying."

"I understand, Teal'c, but there has been harm done to one of our people," General Hammond told him. "We have to learn all we can. What do you think? Should we send another team to Ghenta?"

"We were treated kindly," Teal'c said as the elevator opened and they stepped inside. "I do not think any harm will come to anyone who goes there."

"Except for what happened to Doctor Jackson," General Hammond said. "And we can't guarantee that it won't happen to someone else." Hammond paused, shaking his head. "I think that for the time being we'll wait and see what happens. That's all we can really do."

As they stepped out of the elevator, sirens went off, and they arrived in the gate room just in time to see O'Neill and Carter arrive with Kasuf and Skarra.

"Welcome back to Tau'ri, Kasuf, Skarra," General Hammond said, giving a smile to both of them. "Colonel, Major, glad you were so quick."

"A pleasure to see you, General, Teal'c," Kasuf said, bowing. "O'Neill and Carter have explained what has happened. Where is our good son?"

"Doctor Jackson is in the infirmary," General Hammond said, leading the way. "Would you like to see him now?"

"Yes," Skarra said. "Daniel will feel better once we speak with him. I know this."

"I hope you're right, Skarra," O'Neill told him. "Let's go, folks."

Together, they headed to the infirmary.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Daniel had drunk a little apple juice and had actually fallen asleep by the time Carter and O'Neill arrived at the infirmary with Kasuf and Skarra. Immediately Kasuf went to Daniel's bedside and took his hand, gazing down at his son-in-law with such concern that Janet felt tears come to her eyes. Skarra stood on the other side of his bed and held his other hand and began to whisper to Daniel in a mixture of English and Abydonian. Daniel shifted under the blankets, but he didn't wake.

"What are you saying?" O'Neill asked, surprised.

"It is what my sister would say to Daniel," Skarra explained. "Most of it, at least. Some words are meant only to be shared between husband and wife."

"And how often did you spy upon them, you imp, to know what words they were?" Kasuf said fondly. "I caught you at it more than once."

"Never when they should have been private," Skarra countered, smiling. "These words I speak now, they are what Sha're spoke to Daniel while he was ill."

"Daniel was sick on Abydos?" Carter asked, surprised.

"A terrible fever," Kasuf said, remembering. "Sha're nursed him and refused to leave his side for ten days while it raged within him. Slowly, it grew less, and he recovered and grew strong once more."

"I tell him that he shall soon be well," Skarra said before returning to talking to Daniel.

Kasuf translated, and most of the words had to do with Daniel's being well and strong soon, how the sun would shine upon him and the wind blow through his hair once he was up and walking outside again. There was mention of the lotus blossoms on the water and the cool feel of that water on his feet as he walked along the shores of the river. Then, there were the stars at night that would shine with joy at his recovery. He was safe and loved and surrounded by those who cared for him, and nothing could hurt him while they were there.

Neither Carter nor O'Neill could think of a reason why, but Daniel appeared to relax as Skarra spoke to him. It was Teal'c who said that the words Daniel Jackson was hearing were calming him and reassuring him of his safety. After all, he pointed out, it was not likely that an enemy would speak those words.

Space

When Daniel woke up, he found Kasuf holding one of his hands, Skarra holding the other, and his friends gathered around his bed. For a moment, he stared at all of them as if uncertain of what he was seeing. "Good father?" he managed at last. "What...? What are you doing here?"

"We could not leave our good son to go through such an ordeal alone," Kasuf said, patting Daniel's shoulder with his free hand.

"Ordeal?" Daniel said, looking at the rest of SG-1. "You...told him?"

"Hey, don't get angry, Daniel," Jack said, holding up his hands in a warding gesture. "We felt that your family should know and be nearby for a while. You don't have to go through this alone, and Kasuf and Skarra were more than happy to come."

"I don't know if I'm angry," Daniel said, dropping his head back into his pillow. "But I know I'm not happy about it."

Kasuf nodded. "The colonel and Carter told us of the demon with my daughter's face and what she did to you. Good son, could we speak with you privately?" He turned to the rest of SG-1 with an apologetic look on his face. "Please? These are words meant to be shared between family, Colonel. You understand?"

"Sure we do," Jack said, getting to his feet. "Let's go, Carter, Teal'c. We won't be far, so if you guys need anything, just holler and let us know."

With that, the rest of SG-1 left, leaving Daniel alone with Kasuf and Skarra.

"Good son, why did you not wish us to know what has happened to you?" Kasuf asked once they were gone.

Daniel considered his answer carefully. Abydonians praised truth so he knew he would have to tell the truth, but he really didn't want to talk about any part of the nightmare. Also, he knew that Kasuf and Skarra were expecting him to tell what happened to him and his feelings about it since such confessions were part of Abydonian healing. They considered sicknesses of the spirit to be as serious as sicknesses of the body or mind.

"Good father, I am ashamed," Daniel said at last after thinking very carefully about his answer.

"Why is this so, Daniel?" Skarra asked, just as Daniel had been afraid he would.

"Because of what the demon and I did," Daniel confessed. "Also, when I saw Sha're's face, I wished that the demon were actually her. If I hadn't, perhaps what happened might not have happened."

"I do not see how that can be, good son," Kasuf said after a few moments of reflection. "A demon who wishes to harm you will harm you no matter what your wishes are. You know this to be true. A demon took Sha're, and I know that she did not wish it."

"You think your wishes for Sha're made you vulnerable to the demon?" Skarra said. "Daniel, demons are crafty and cruel. You know this. They are not above hurting you in spirit as well as in body, and it is clear that the demon wore my sister's face to hurt you in spirit."

"But I wouldn't have even allowed it to get close to me if it had not worn Sha're's face," Daniel insisted. "My weakness allowed it to harm me, and I only deserve what happened to me."

"There is no crime in wishing for one you love," Kasuf told him gently, smoothing his rumpled hair in much the same way Sha're had while he'd been ill or sleeping. "There is no weakness in that. Lay the blame on the truly guilty one: the demon who harmed you, and not yourself. The fact that you still mourn Sha're shows all the world how much you still care for her and how much you loved her. There is no shame in loving."

"If Sha're were here, she would hate me," Daniel pointed out. "How could I confuse a demon with her?"

"When did you realize it was a demon?" Skarra asked.

"As soon as it touched me," Daniel answered, still looking ashamed.

"Then you did not confuse it with her," Skarra said firmly. "You knew what it was, and nothing that happened was your wish. If Sha're were here, she would say the same."

"My memories of Sha're were always good ones," Daniel persisted. "Now, I have a memory of her being cruel."

"You say it looked like her, good son," Kasuf said thoughtfully. "How did it?"

"Well, it looked exactly like her," Daniel began.

"Did it smile like she did?" Skarra wanted to know.

"No," Daniel admitted. "Its smile was...evil."

"Did it call you 'husband'?" Kasuf continued.

"No."

"Did it hold you as Sha're did after you both had an absence from one another?"

"No..."

"Did it sing to you as you were going to sleep that night?

"No," Daniel said quietly after thinking about it. "No matter how late it was or how tired she was, she always sang to me. She told me that she loved to watch me listening to her."

"Did it kiss you as Sha're did?"

Daniel shuddered, remembering the "kisses" the demon had given him. "No!"

"Then your memories of this demon are not memories of Sha're," Skarra concluded. "They are memories of a cruel demon, and that is all they are."

For the first time since coming back through the Stargate, Daniel appeared to relax and he seemed more like the man who had married Sha're. In the next instant, he was weeping, and Kasuf and Skarra were there to whisper encouragement to him as he healed from the torture of the demon.

Space

It was Skarra who left the infirmary to tell O'Neill and the rest of SG-1 of Daniel's recovery. "He will be healing a long time," Skarra told them. "But Father and I feel that he is already healing. In time, he will cease to be ashamed of what the demon did to him and he will accept that he did nothing to cause what happend."

"That's good to hear," O'Neill said, smiling in relief. "We were worried."

"I was scared to death," Carter confessed.

"I, too, was concerned," Teal'c added.

Skarra smiled. "It is normal to worry, you are his friends. Is it possible to get him something to eat? He says he is actually hungry, and Father and I are hungry as well."

"Why didn't you say so?" Jack demanded, suddenly ecstatic that Daniel was hungry. "I'll get you all a feast myself. C'mon, Carter, Teal'c. I'm gonna need help carrying stuff."

Space

Ahntas was certain that they were planning to kill him. Why else would they come and talk and then leave him alone for ages? Perhaps what had happened to Dannul was a serious crime here, and they were holding him responsible for it? The Ghenta did not believe in killing a person who committed a crime, but what if these people did? If they were on Ghenta, he would be sentenced to a life of hard labor in order to help him atone for what he had done, but what if these people actually killed others who committed crimes?

He didn't want to think what forms his death might take. He knew that all of them were very angry over what had happened to Dannul. The anger was so palpable that he could feel it in the air.

He received a surprise when the one called General Hammond reappeared with Tilk and Sam. They told him that Dannul was healing and that he would be fine eventually, but they wanted to know more about what had happened and how. Ahntas told him all that he knew, and he confessed that he should have tried to protect Dannul and all of them more than he had. It was because of his negligence that such a thing had happened.

"I don't know about that," General Hammond told him while Tilk translated. "It sounds as if this Korh is to blame. After all, he is the one who is responsible."

"But I should have expected he would do something like that," Ahntas persisted.

That seemed to propitiate the general in some way, but Ahntas couldn't say if that were a good thing or bad thing.

"While we decide what to do, would you like anything to eat or drink? Would there be anything that you require?"

"Just something similar to what we had on Ghenta, and perhaps I could have a book to look at?" Ahntas requested after some thought. "There is very little to see in here."

The general nodded and left then, leading Tilk and Sam out of the room, and for the first time Ahntas felt he might actually have a chance. He waited, pacing his room, and he thought. Would they allow him to return to Ghenta or keep him here?

A few minutes later, he realized that he wouldn't have to wonder much longer. Alarms were going off, and he was sure that they meant nothing good was happening.

Space

"Incoming travelers! Repeat, incoming travelers!" a voice over the public address system was saying. "Unauthorized incoming travelers!"

"Close the iris!" Hammond ordered as he rushed into the control room. "Where are they coming from?"

"Uhh, from the planet that SG-1 just returned from," Walter said, hurriedly tapping keys. The iris grated shut, but the wormhole did not close. "Um, there are ten travelers en route."

Hammond winced, but there were no spikes on the computer monitor to show energy signature impact. Instead, there was nothing, and the wormhole closed.

"Did they disappear?" Hammond wondered, surprised at what had happened. "What happened?"

Carter arrived then and took in everything at a glance before rushing to a terminal and examining the events of the last few minutes. "Sir, it says here that the travelers arrived."

"Can these beings become invisible?" Hammond demanded.

"I don't know, sir, we never saw such a thing," Carter answered, hurriedly running through files and programs. She brought up a monitor image, but there was nothing on it. "Sir, it seems like we've got ten aliens we can't see in the base."

"Order lockdown! Defcon 2!" Hammond snapped. "We've got to find them."

The phone rang, and Hammond ran to grab it. He listened for a few moments and thanked whoever it was. "All right, we've got reports from all over the base. Invisible beings are running everywhere, people bumping into them, that kind of thing. I want all SFs to start searching and they are to report immediately if they find anything!"

"What I want to know is, how will they see anything if they find something?" Colonel O'Neill pointed out, entering the room. "Sir, I suggest we use those Reetou seeing thingies the Tok'ra gave us."

"Fine, Colonel, you're in charge of making sure they're used. Let's get on top of this, people!"

An hour's search yielded nothing: there was no sign of the beings, and no one reported any difficulties like bumping into someone that wasn't there.

"Okay, so they break onto the base only to disappear completely? That doesn't make sense," Carter said later in the debriefing room. Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill were there, and Daniel was on his way from the infirmary, escorted by Skarra and Kasuf. "They have to be here for some reason."

"It is possible they are here to rescue Ahntas," Teal'c said thoughtfully. "However, his guards have reported no disturbances within his cell or without it."

"Okay, so they're not trying to spring Ahntas right away," O'Neill said fiddling with a pen. "Maybe their plan is to wait until we lower our guards and then they'll spring him."

"Well, if I know the SGC, our guards aren't going down anytime soon," Daniel said as came in. Kasuf and Skarra were right behind him, wearing big smiles full of relief. Apparently, they were feeling much better about Daniel's condition.

"Darn right," Hammond muttered. "What do you think, Dr. Jackson?"

"Well, I think it's given they're here to get Ahntas," Daniel said as he and his escorts sat down. "The only thing that bothers me is that they seem to have disappeared since coming onto the base. Why?"

"We've been tossing that problem back and forth for a while. Nothing we do--not light shifts, sound waves, thermal scans, or even the Reetou devices--can alert us to just where they are."

"Perhaps the spirits just wish to observe," Skarra said into the silence that followed. "They wish to see what goes on here."

Everyone turned to look at him, surprised.

"Daniel's rubbed off on you," O'Neill said, grinning.

"Skarra, that's pure genius!" Daniel said, slapping the younger man on the back. "Brilliant!"

"Yeah, but what are they hoping to learn?" Carter asked.

"Well, they were trying to learn about us back on Ghenta, but what's a more effective learning experience than field work?" Daniel wanted to know. "After all--"

The phone ringing cut him off, and Hammond answered it. "What? All right, airman, get them both to the infirmary and let me know as soon as their conditions change." He hung up and faced SG-1.

"That sounds...ominous," Jack said, looking at his CO.

"That's because it is," Hammond said, approaching the table. "That was one of the patrols, and they found Ahntas' two guards unconscious and Ahntas missing."

"Okay, so they're here to rescue Ahntas. It's only a matter of time before they head to the Gate room."

_Wham!_ The door to the debriefing room slammed open and an invisible wind rushed in as the entire team got to their feet in surprise. In a moment Jack was knocked over and then picked up by nothing at all, which proceeded to carry him out of the room. Teal'c was battling...two?... beings that were trying to carry him out, and Carter was scooped up like a teddy bear and carried out. All of this happened before Hammond could even shout for a patrol. The being (beings?) that was trying to get to Daniel was having a hard time of it since Skarra and Kasuf were in the way, shouting at it in Abydonian. As SFs rushed in, Teal'c and Daniel were dragged out while Hammond used every iota of his combat training to stop them, but it was very difficult fighting hand to hand with things you could not see.

Somehow, the Gate activated (systems checks later would show that the beings had used the dialling computer in the operations booth, but how had they figured out how to work it?) and the beings rushed towards it. It was eerie for General Hammond to see absolutely nothing carrying his best team up the ramp and through the iris.

"Dan-yel!" Skarra yelled as Daniel disappeared through the iris, his accent worse with distress. "Dan-yel!"

What happened next no one expected. Skarra was suddenly scooped up by...nothing and carried through the iris just as SG-1 had been. Kasuf shouted for him to come back, but the wormhole behind the iris closed.

"SG-2, SG-3, ready a MALP! We're going after our people right now!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was like a nightmare: One moment, they'd all been safe and sound in the SGC, and then in the next instant phantom whirlwinds had swept them up and carried them through the event horizon and into the wormhole. The next thing any of SGC knew, they were in the middle of a storm: white, sweet-smelling mist pummeled them, shocking them speechless. When Jack realized they had just been "misted" in a decontamination unit, he felt insulted. They hadn't done that to Ahntas, after all, and they certainly didn't seem to have left any germs here the first time! Where did they get off?

That was when he saw what was carrying him, and for one moment he wondered if the Ghenta had an equivalent to the black ops. These guys were all fitted out in the same gear, and they radiated danger and deadly confidence: the same feelings he'd radiated in the black ops. Creepy. What was even more creepy was that they'd been able to make themselves invisible while in the SGC. What were they, some kind of military chameleons? Camo was good, but this stuff was infinitely better, so much better that it was scary. He kept himself very still and waited to see what would happen. Carter and Teal'c were doing the same, Daniel seemed unconscious, and Skarra was raising unholy hell with the two Ghenta who had hold of him. He was hurling all sorts of Abydonian curses at their heads (according to Daniel, there were a great many—especially since Ra's downfall—and most of those called blights down upon your family, insulted your forefathers, or declared you progeny of Ra) and doing his best to kick, punch, or bite his guards. The guards were looking increasingly harassed and O'Neill felt it would be best to calm the kid down.

"Stand down, Skarra!" Jack shouted, attracting the young man's attention. "Cool it!"

"These kidnappers—these rapists! These sons and daughters of Ra!"

"I SAID STAND DOWN!" Jack bellowed, and silence fell in the temple. That silence was shortly broken by a loud grating noise, which was a large metal cover being rolled into place in front of the Stargate. At first, he wasn't worried, but then he realized that none of them had a zat to disintegrate the thing with. Oooh, boy.

Someone O'Neill didn't recognize started shouting orders, and for a second, for one insane second, O'Neill thought that Harry Maybourne had come along for the ride. Then, Ghenta words registered, and he realized that it was a Ghenta using Harry's unctuous tone. How about that? And here he'd thought that Harry had had a copyright on that.

He was a little slap-happy right now. Carter liked to refer to it as emotional shock, but O'Neill knew he was slap-happy. Why else would so much be tickling his funny bone right now?

They were carried outside the temple and down the stairs toward a vehicle. In the back of it was a riding area, and it kind of reminded O'Neill of a prisoner transport. How funny. Their guards placed them in the back and closed the doors, leaving them all rather quiet.

"Okay, who feels really zoned out? Very far out?"

"The slap-happiness?" O'Neill said from where he half-sat, half-lay on the floor.

"This should not be," Teal'c said, leaning against the side of the van. "My symbiote should protect me from this."

"Carter, are you saying they hit us with sedative?"

"Oohh, yeah," she drawled, trying hard to focus her eyes.

"Why am I affected?" Teal'c asked.

"Probably because Junior got a whiff of that and liked it," Jack commented. "Skarra, are you okay?"

Skarra was also leaning against one of the van walls and he looked dazed. "O'Neill, we have been drugged. We have been given something to make us dream."

"Yup," Jack said, making his way carefully to Skarra's side. "Just try to keep awake, there. Carter, how the hell could they drug us? I thought they used their hands for that!"

"Well, if what I know about scientific procedure holds true for them as well as us, then they probably took blood samples and used them to test what kind of sedative would be effective."

"You mean other than that hand thing?" Jack asked.

Carter nodded, still fighting to focus her eyes. "Yep. How's Daniel?"

Teal'c, who had moved to Daniel's side, rolled the archeologist over to look at him. "Unconscious. I do not know why."

"Shock, most likely," Carter said, her words slurring the slightest bit. "He's been through a lot."

"One of us must keep awake, if only to guard Dan-yel," Skarra said, his accent a little thicker due to sleepiness. "We must not allow them to harm him."

"We don't intend to, Skarra," Jack told him. "We're not gonna let them get their paws on Daniel."

Those should have been his famous last words, because in the next moment, the sedative he'd breathed in finally accomplished sending him to sleep.

What followed that was another nightmare. He dreamed of bright lights, tall forms bending over him, strange sounds and words, odd sensations, and pain hovering somewhere on the edge of feeling. When he finally woke up, he found himself in bed in his old room in the Ghenta research station, and he was staring at the ceiling, feeling perplexed.

"What the hell was _that_?" he said, sitting up. He looked around, but there was no one in the room with him. It was an eerie sense of déjà vu. In fact, he was getting more creeped out by the moment. What had happened to everyone else?

He looked for the door out and headed through it into the lounge. There was no one there. He started looking in other rooms, and he found Skarra, Carter, Teal'c, and (thanks be to the God who watched over overly-confident idiot colonels) Daniel. Worried, all of them headed straight to his bed and tried to wake him up. One shake and he was conscious, staring at all of them. "What happened? Jack? Sam? Where are we?"

"The Ghenta sent some kind of command force through the Gate to get Ahntas and us," Jack said, sounding a little ticked. "They brought Skarra along for the ride, too. Right now, we're back on Ghenta."

"Why would they bring us back if they came to get Ahntas?" Daniel asked, sitting up. "That doesn't make sense."

"Well, they're scientists," Carter said thoughtfully. "Perhaps they weren't done studying us?"

"Well, they'll have to learn to live with disappointment," Jack said at his grouchiest. "We're gettin' outta here!"

"I do not think the Ghenta will allow us to leave the same way as before," Teal'c observed. "We shall have to formulate a new plan."

That was when two Ghenta arrived. It was Ahntas, as well as someone they hadn't met before. Who was this, and why did none of them feel safe in this guy's presence?

"Ahntas, you better explain!" Jack snapped while Sam translated.

"I'll explain, but please, for your own safety, Jack, remain calm. We are no longer in charge here."

That stopped Jack cold. "Huh?"

Ahntas nodded toward the other Ghenta with him. "This is Korh. He is now in charge of this facility and of you according the Ghenta Council."

"Korh?" Jack said, trying to place the name. "You mean that Korh who used that machine on Daniel?" Seeing Skarra's worried look he added, "He's the one who set the demon on Daniel."

"Yes," Ahntas said, nodding while Skarra started cursing under his breath. "The same. Please, for your own sake, obey him. He is not a kind person."

Worried, Sam looked over to Daniel, who seemed to have sunk into some kind of catatonia. Why the heck had that happened? She sat down beside him and started whispering to him, trying to get him out of it, and Skarra did the same, but he wasn't really responding. Damn! Sam wondered why Ahntas was being so candid in front of Korh, but in that moment she realized that Korh did not care what Ahntas was saying about him just as long as he was getting what he wanted. Besides, it was likely that Korh got some kind of sick pleasure out of being thought of as unkind.

"So Korh ordered the group that came through the Gate to Tau'ri," Teal'c said.

"Yes, he did. Korh is not part of the Researcher's Guild. He is part of the Scientific Guild."

"There's a difference?" Jack wanted to know.

"The Researcher's Guild is bogged down with petty sentiment," Korh said, speaking at last. "The Scientific Guild is focused more on results."

"You…son of RA!" Skarra shouted, his worry over Daniel overcoming his restraint. He had heard Jack say that Korh was the one who had sent the demon to Daniel through a machine, and he wanted nothing more than to avenge his brother-in-law. "You are the one who harmed Dan-yel! How dare you do such a thing!"

Korh looked at Skarra, shifting colors. He was amused, although Jack was certain that if he could understand what the kid was saying, he would be most unamused. "What is he saying, Ahntas?"

"I…do not know those words of Tau'ri," Ahntas said, surprised at the angry tone of Skarra's voice. "He is not one we worked with before, and his words are different."

"Then one of the Tau'ri shall tell me," Korh said, looking to SG-1 for answers while Skarra ranted on. "Where is the one called Dannul?"

At the sound of Daniel's name, Skarra stopped berating Korh and shot to a spot between Korh and his brother-in-law, protecting Daniel with all of the might that existed in his body. "You do not touch Dan-yel!" Skarra shouted. "I will kill you if you do!"

"Jack? Tilk? Sam?" Korh prompted, still amused.

"I don't think I wanna talk to a rapist," Jack said nastily, allowing his disgust to show while Sam translated for him. It was not as easy as Daniel made it seem. The best she could come to 'rapist' was 'one who harmed another in body and mind with a forbidden intimate act.'

Korh stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I told you," Ahntas said angrily. "Dannul remembers it happening to him. He felt everything his body went through. You told me when we arrived from Tau'ri that I wasn't to worry, he'd felt nothing and would remember nothing and that there was nothing to worry about!" He pointed at Daniel. "Does _that _look like 'nothing' to you, Korh?"

"It is nothing," Korh said. "In fact…"

"Look, pal, rape is a very serious crime where we come from. It's forbidden, and it's devastating to the person it happens to," Jack snarled. "It doesn't matter if it's a person, people, or a machine that's used to make it happen, it's still the same crime, so you'd BETTER be thinkin' of a pretty damn good apology to Daniel! Hell, you better be ready to be brought up on charges!"

That time Teal'c translated since Major Carter was too busy taking care of Daniel to bother. It looked like he had gone back to sleep or had passed out.

"I repeat, it is nothing," Korh said. "He will be better soon from what happened, you'll see. I'm willing to make a deal with you."

"You don't have any right to ask for a deal!" Jack snarled, looking ready to kill.

"Right now, I am the one in charge of you," Korh said, ignoring Jack. "According to the Ghenta Council, I am your legal guardian. I can make your existence very comfortable or I can make it very uncomfortable. It all depends on what you tell us."

"Okay...what?" Jack said, confused. "Tell you...what? What do you want to know?"

"The Scientific Guild is very interested in the Shabbah," Korh said. "We want to know how to work it, the locations of all the places it is capable of reaching, and we wish to know of the peoples you have met. We wish to open trade and diplomatic relations with your people, and you are going to help us do that. You and the rest of your team are to submit to examinations whenever requested and you are to work with the team of professionals we have assembled. There is a psychologist, an educational expert, a physician, and a linguist. You are to fulfill any request they give you. In exchange, you shall live in a secure community of your own. You'll have your own homes, pleasant surroundings, the best food, and the best care."

"Hello, Harry," Jack muttered, hearing Harry Maybourne in every word. Feeling sick, he remembered the Tollans. Harry had had the same arrangement for them, except that they hadn't been interested in the Tollans beyond their technology and their brains. Now, SG-1 was in the same predicament, except this time, it appeared there was no way out for them. They didn't have a little flash box to contact the Nox with. They were stuck.

At this point, Sam was thinking very hard. Now she understood why Ahntas and his team had never really asked about the Stargate. They were part of the Resarcher's Guild while the Scientific Guild was the one researching the Stargate. It appeared the Researcher's Guild was one more interested in talking to other people and learning about them--or at least, she thought so--than finding out about technology. Okay, so humanity over profits. That...made sense, somehow. She shook her head, feeling muddled. They were in a situation that so many others had been in before when they'd come to the SGC, but now, _they_ were in it. According to the government that existed on Ghenta, they were now assets. They were living, breathing, thinking, feeling assets, but they were assets all the same.

"I can't make that decision for my entire team," O'Neill said, every inch the colonel. "I'd like...for us to have some privacy while we discuss the situation." Daniel wasn't the only one who could be diplomatic!

"Take all the time you need," Korh said, sounding very smug. "Ahntas and I will return."

Ahntas, swirling every color of worry and anxiety, followed Korh, who was bright and confident.

Once they were gone, SG-1 and Skarra started to work on waking Daniel up. After a few minutes, his eyes opened, and he looked terrible. He looked like a man living in a nightmare. "Did I pass out again?"

"Yeah, but who wouldn't want to pass out with that Korh character in the room?" Jack said, trying to cheer him up. "I mean, ten to one he's never had a shower in his life. Phew!"

That won a wan smile from Daniel. "Reminds me of Maybourne."

"I concur," Teal'c said, sitting down on the floor. "O'Neill, I received a very strange impression while Korh was here."

O'Neill raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What was it?"

"I think he knows something about us that we do not," Teal'c told him. "Do you remember Ahntas' and the others' reactions to finding out we were from Tau'ri? Korh must know that by now. What is the significance of Tau'ri? Further, what is the significance of us?"

"What are you gettin' at, Teal'c?" O'Neill asked, confused.

"Wait, I get it," Daniel said, sitting up. "You're wondering how they knew the name Tau'ri? You think that they might have some sort of information about us? That's why they're so interested in us and why they brought us back?"

Teal'c nodded once. "Exactly, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel enlightened the rest of SG-1 and Skarra. "They might have writings--ancient writings about Earth. Remember our theory of there being the remains of a human culture here? Well, they might think that we hold the key to finding out what happened to that culture or where that culture came from. There may have been stories about Gate travel, stories about Ga'ould technology, all sorts of stories about Earth..."

"So you're saying that the Ghenta Council might think that we could tell them all about that stuff?" Jack asked, surprised.

"The Gate, yeah, we could tell them, and a bit about the Ga'ould technology, but..." Sam trailed off, uncertain. "How do we tell them that we won't take being locked up?"

"We fight!" Skarra said, contributing his views to the conversation. "We will not be slaves or prisoners!"

"You tell 'em, Skarra," O'Neill said, giving Skarra a grin. "God, now I know how Omoc must have felt. And I thought the Ghenta were peaceful! What gets me, is how were they invisible, and how did they make it through the iris? Where'd that stuff come from?"

No one could come up with an answer.

"Okay, so we have a couple of mysteries to solve," Daniel said, looking thoughtful. "Why they brought us back, and where they got that technology."

Jack groaned. "What are we? Scooby-Doo and the gang?"

"What is Scooby-Doo?" Skarra asked, interested.

"We'll show you when we get back to Earth," Jack promised. "For now, what should we do?"

Carter looked as if she had an idea or two forming in her mind. "Well, we can always pretend to go along with this whole thing while we find out things, and in the meantime, we can use what we learn to make a plan to get away."

"Beats my suggestion of having a temper tantrum," Jack joked. "Everyone in agreement? All right, let's get Korh back in here so we can pull the wool over his eyes, and let's hope to God he isn't as smart as Maybourne can be when he isn't trying to act like an idiot."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was impossible for a MALP to get through to the other side. SG-1 and Skarra had been kidnapped and there was no way to get to them to help them. They were stuck.

"Sir, I think that SG-1 will figure out a way to return," Walter said as Hammond stood in the control booth, staring at the Stargate. "I mean, they've been in how many impossible situations, and they've always come back."

"This time, the aliens they're dealing with are an unknown factor," Hammond reminded him. "According to their initial reports, these people were peaceful, but what happened here were not the actions of a peaceful people. I don't know what to make of it."

"Well, it kind of reminds me of what happened with the Tollans," Walter said, fiddling with a computer mouse. "Remember how we wanted to help them and Maybourne wanted to lock them up? Maybe we've got two groups in conflict over SG-1."

"But why take them back?" Hammond wanted to know. "If they had left the planet, they would have ceased to be a problem, right? So why?"

Neither one could answer that.

"Do you think the Tok'ra or the Asgard could help us out?" Walter asked after a moment of quiet. "You know, take a ship and scout the planet? Maybe mount a rescue?"

"We've already contacted them. The Tok'ra's present resources won't allow it, and the Asgard are still discussing it in their Council. They've promised to contact us as soon as…"

An Asgard transportation cut him off, and he and Walter were left staring at Thor.

"It's good to see you, Thor," General Hammond said, smiling. "How are you?"

"I am well, General Hammond, thank you. I bring word from the Council."

"And?"

"We know of these Ghenta, and you were right in your description of them as peaceful. They are scholars, researchers, artists, and always ready to learn and discover. What they have done does not make sense, and they do not possess the level of technology you described. This disturbs the Council greatly."

"Well, we can't penetrate their Stargate, and we don't know how else to help SG-1," Hammond said, laying his worries out. "Do you or the Council have any ideas?"

Thor blinked and looked at him. "The Council is willing to send a ship to Ghenta to investigate, and if necessary, rescue O'Neill and the others. Also, the one going will investigate this new technology and determine from where the Ghenta obtained it."

"Thank you, Thor. Who is it that will be going?"

"I shall be the one," Thor promised him. "This matter concerns me very much. As soon as I have anything to report, I shall contact the Council and you as well." With that, Thor disappeared.

"You know what?" Walter said, sounding very surprised but also very pleased. "I agree with Colonel O'Neill. I love those guys."

"So do I," General Hammond agreed. "Keep a channel open."

"Yes, sir."

Space

Korh smiled as he watched the screen and enjoyed the reactions of those gathered behind him. All eight people made up the Ghenta Council, and all of them were very, very surprised at the aliens' appearance and behavior. Also, they had been amazed at the level of technology and knowledge they possessed about the Shabbah.

"This is incredible," said Head Fallana, staring at the screen. "They're…actually people from another world!"

"Initial reports indicate that they may be the same people as those who made up the Cahvel culture. Our anthropologists and biologists report that their skeletal structure is the same, with the only exception being that they're a little taller than the Cahvels and some very slight differences in skull shape," Korh said, very pleased with their reactions. "Imagine what they could tell us about the Cahvels! A centuries-old mystery explained!"

Yura, an archeology and history enthusiast, shifted colors intensely, his excitement plain.

"Imagine what we could learn about _them_," Fallana pointed out. It was well-known that Fallana enjoyed anthropology since it had been her concentration of study when she'd been younger. "I mean, they claim to be from Tau'reh, and Tau'reh is mentioned in what we've been able to translate of the Cahvel writings! Is the Council agreed to meeting them?"

Readily, the Council agreed, and Korh led them into the room where the Tau'reh were. They spent most of their time together in the room that held all their learning materials, mostly talking in Tau'reh or finding ways to pass the time. By that point, they had attempted to bargain with him, agreeing to only certain parts of his proposal and refusing others, but he was certain that if he persuaded the Council that the Tau'reh were assets as well as people in need of protection (after all, their base had been infiltrated _so_ easily) he would be able to control them completely and not incidentally, the information they could supply. Once he had the Council's approval, it wouldn't matter if the Tau'reh wished to remain or not, or if they wished to submit to tests or not. The matter would be out of their hands entirely.

He had already performed some exams with his own medical team—vivisections, mostly, while they'd still been unconscious—and had found their internal systems complex but efficient. Further scans of their bodies during the vivisections had revealed the cellular structure of their bodies and the substances within them. Now, he wished them to take intelligence and psychological exams, and to cooperate with his other specialists. If the Council agreed, then they would have no way of resisting.

Korh had noticed something over the past few days since the Tau'reh had been brought back to Ghenta. The one called Dannul was often surrounded by the others, almost as if they were trying to protect him. The one called Skarra was the most vociferous in his protection, Jack was the most steadfast, Teal'c was the strongest, and Carter was the most determined. Altogether, they formed the best bodyguard that Korh had ever seen. Skarra often shouted at Korh if he tried to get close to Dannul, and when that happened the others would quietly watch until Korh moved away again. According to reports from Ahntas' team Dannul was the one who learned the fastest and had the most fluency in Ghenta, but the other Tau'reh were not allowing anyone near him, Korh least of all.

Space

Jack sat beside Daniel while he read to them from a Ghenta book. It was a book full of tales and legends and myths and he knew Daniel found them all fascinating, and stories were a good way for everyone to pass the time. However, Jack was only half-listening since he was worried about a great many things at the moment, not the least of which was Daniel. While he seemed to be getting better, a visit from Korh was enough to send him into catatonia. Skarra said that while Daniel did not consciously remember Korh, his spirit did, and so he reacted by withdrawing to a place inside where he could be safe from Korh. Jack would have loved for Mackenzie to hear that explanation, because Abydonians seemed to have a better grasp of psychology than he did at times.

Another worry was Korh. Korh kept on wanting them to submit to physical examinations, and most of them were invasive. He stated very calmly to Korh that he'd already performed those examinations while they'd been drugged and they were not going to go through them again. He could use the information he already had to learn from. Jack and the rest of his team--and Skarra, God bless the kid--were willing to take the psych tests, educational tests, and language tests, but they would not undergo any more physical exams. They were firm on refusing, but Korh was just as firm in insisting. For the time being, they were in a deadlock, and Jack felt as if he were stuck. Korh wasn't willing to accept their terms, but they weren't willing to accept his. Something had to happen soon or he would go nuts.

The door opened, revealing Korh and eight other people. Great. Now they were a sideshow. He heard Daniel stop reading and quickly he checked on him. Daniel was staring at Korh, clearly worried, but he was still in the waking world. Good, an improvement.

"The Tau'reh," Korh declared as he led the eight Ghenta inside. "Sam, Jack, Tilk, Dannul, and Skarra."

"You were reading?" one of the females said, clearly surprised and pleased.

Daniel nodded, staring down at the book in his hands. "Keihn. Dannul lir."

All of the Ghenta with Korh shifted colors, surprised. Clearly, hearing their own language coming from an alien was a treat.

"Tau'ri san lir," Carter said, eliciting further surprise. It was true, too. They had all learned to read and write, and they had taught Skarra in the few days they'd been back on Ghenta. While they'd been teaching Skarra it was clear to all of them that Daniel had definitely rubbed off on him since he'd said more than once that the language was "fascinating" and he had "no idea" when he didn't know something.

There was a flurry of Ghenta talking, and so the Council did not see what Korh did: the Tau'reh were very carefully surrounding Dannul, protecting him. Amazing. Dannul wasn't hurt physically, but it appeared that he was hurt in his mind. So, the Tau'reh reacted to mind-hurt just as strongly as they would to physical injury. That was very interesting. Even more interesting was the way that Dannul seemed to accept the protection without a qualm or protest. Korh knew from observation that none of the other Tau'reh felt in need of protection and often protested when one of their number offered it. So, it seemed they had reached a consensus--consciously or unconsciously--to protect Dannul.

Falanna spoke up then. "Korh, they are wonderful!"

The Council shifted colors in response, and it was clear that they agreed wholeheartedly. Then, they noticed that Dannul was translating for the others, and they shifted colors again.

"Can they leave this facility?" Falanna asked, looking the Tau'reh over.

_That_ surprised him. "Leave? What do you mean?" What was this, now?

"Well, we wish them to learn about Ghenta, but how can they do that while they're stuck inside? The rest of the Council and I were discussing this before we arrived today. Some of us would like to take a Tau'reh home with us so they may learn about our homes and our lives outside of this facility."

For a few moments, Korh couldn't speak. Then, panic began to rise. He'd had no idea that the Council would wish to have the Tau'reh as houseguests! They were aliens! Even worse, what if Dannul told them about what had happened to him? Already it was too late for him to say no, for Falanna was speaking to them, offering them the chance to go home with a Councilmember for the night. He heard the Tau'reh confer in their own language, and after a few moments they gave an answer that he knew was 'yes.'

He was doomed, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Space

Skarra insisted on going with Dannul wherever he went, so when Falanna invited Daniel to her home, he had Daniel tell her in no uncertain terms that he was going, too. She accepted this gladly, and O'Neill told all of them that if things got ugly their rendezvous point was the temple that held the Chappa'ai. They rode with the Council in another odd vehicle that did not need mastadges to pull it, and they exited it with Falanna after only a few minutes. She led them down a paved walkway lined with flowers that made Daniel sneeze, and then she led them into a house. She welcomed them by inviting them to have a seat and offered them both something to drink. Both declined, and a moment afterward, she said something. Ahntas appeared, looking grim but oddly hopeful.

"I told Falanna what happened to you, Dannul," he said in explanation after greeting them both. "She is suspicious of Korh, as well. She says that he has been doing things that have been worrying the Council for some time, and he has technology that he should not have. She said that she'll need your help and mine to keep him from hurting anyone else, as well as finding out where he got the technology he has, and how he knew to work the Shabbah to retrieve you. He should not know that, yet he does. We are worried."

Daniel translated, too surprised to do more than that. Skarra shook his head. "I do not understand, Daniel," he said, too confused.

"Well, they're saying that they want to find out how Korh did the things he did," Daniel said, beginning to count things off on his fingers. "First, he knew how to work the Stargate Chappa'ai when no one else on this planet knows how to work it. How did he learn to use it? Second, how did he come through the iris into the SGC? No one should have been able to do that. Third, he sent the demon to hurt me, and she fears that he may have done the same to others or will do the same in the future. She says that she needs our help to stop him."

Skarra nodded his understanding. "O'Neill and the others should know this."

Daniel translated, and Ahntas shifted colors, displaying his relief. "We will take you to them," he said as Falanna rose and began to lead them through the house to a back door. "Thank you, Daniel, Skarra."

Daniel only nodded. He didn't feel much like 'helping' the Ghenta, yet he knew that it had been Korh who had hurt him and not Ahntas, his team, or the Council. If helping them meant stopping Korh, then he was ready and willing. Perhaps by helping them, he would be able to keep Korh from hurting anyone else. Only Skarra's continued presence and support had kept him from freaking when it came to being separated from the rest of SG-1, and he wanted to spare others from being so afraid.


	9. Chapter 9

This chapter is dedicated to fantasdancer because she always leaves lots of good reviews! Happy Birthday!

Chapter 9

They had talked late into the night, not even stopping when it was time for a meal, continuing to discuss things while eating. Falanna was vastly amused when she noticed Jack sneaking more and more food onto Dannul's plate while the latter wasn't looking. Evidently, Jack thought that Dannul needed to eat a little more and Dannul's expression when finding a tidbit of food in the place of a tidbit he'd just consumed was priceless!

"Stop that," Daniel said, turning a glaring eye on Jack.

"Stop what?" Jack said innocently.

"Putting more food on my plate."

"I wasn't doing that," Jack told him. "Honest, Danny."

"Uh-huh. Tell another one."

By this point, their conversation had drawn everyone else's attention and even though the Ghenta did not speak English, they could guess what was being said. One of the Council members asked something and Daniel turned to answer him, but he turned back in time to catch Jack in the act of putting a morsel of vegetable cake on his plate.

"Aha! Caught ya!" Daniel said, causing no end of amusement at the table. Even the Ghenta were laughing while Sam giggled, Teal'c chuckled, and Skaara grinned.

"Okay, okay, so you caught me," Jack said, admitting defeat. "I'll stop. I promise."

The meal continued and Falanna had to fight down a smile when she spotted Skaara carefully sneaking more bread onto Daniel's plate. Daniel was keeping such a close eye on Jack that he was oblivious to what Skaara was doing and he returned to the previous topic.

"You said that Korh has only been in power for a few years," he said, unknowingly picking up the piece of bread Skaara had slipped onto his plate and nibbling at it. "Just what is his position and how did he come to be in power in the first place?"

Falanna breathed a short prayer of thanks that Dannul spoke their language so well. "Korh is an astute politician. He was often in the right place at the right time saying the right things to serve his cause. He moved up through different layers of our government at a fairly young age and suddenly, he was in charge of research. He's an efficient researcher and he's solved several problems that we've been working on for a while, but he also uses any methods that will get him what he wants. It is true that the Researcher's Guild has accomplished quite a lot recently, but they have also received criticism due to their methods and for their failure to work the Sabbah."

"They still aren't able to work the Gate?" Jack said, surprised. "Wait a second. They worked it when they came to Earth to get us! If they don't know how to use the Gate, then how did they come through it to Earth?"

Patiently, Falanna and the rest of the Council explained. Korh apparently had an advanced computer system that could tell him what the last address dialed was, but it could not generate new addresses.

"I see," Teal'c said thoughtfully.

"Teal'c? You look like you're remembering something. What is it?"

"I am uncertain, O'Neill," Teal'c told him. "Mention of this computer reminds me of something, but what it is, I know not. It is something that I heard in the past but I cannot recall it or why it is important."

"It'll come to you," Sam said supportively. "Just wait."

Talk moved to other channels then, mostly the history of Kohr's career and how the Guilds on Ghenta differed from one another and the roles they played in the government.

"Well, this is peachy," Jack said after hearing that a single guild could trump all the others if the project it was working on was deemed of "worldwide importance." "So, are we of 'worldwide importance'? Is that why Korh and his Scientific Guild suddenly in charge of the Research Guild and its facility?"

The Ghenta all smiled. "You are very perceptive, Jack," Ahntas said brightly.

"I have my moments."

"SKAARA!"

Daniel had realized that Skaara had been putting food on his plate and the rest of the people seated at the table started laughing uproariously at the expression on Daniel's face.

Once the meal was over, everyone moved to the sitting room to talk some more. By the time sleep became imperative, they had a tentative battle plan formed. With luck, they would be able to implement it the next day as soon as they returned to the facility.

Space

Korh had never had so much go so wrong so quickly before. The day before he'd been in complete charge of the Tau'ri and the facility they were housed in, but the Council had run merrily through that and had taken them, of all places, _home_! Outside of the facility Korh had no control over what the Tau'ri would be able to tell the Council or what they would do. For all he knew, they'd shaken their escorts, found some way to remove the barrier in front of the Shabbah and they'd returned home! If they hadn't done that, then he could think of any number of unpleasant alternatives to that course of events, and most of them involved a great deal anguish he'd rather not deal with.

How had things deteriorated to this point? One moment, he was fine, and the next, things went to the Dark Realm without a second thought. Incredible.

He felt a headache coming on.

Space

Over the next few days, Korh's headache came to stay. Not only did the Council find the Tau'reh absolutely _charming_ (their words exactly) but the Council was unwilling to have them confined to the research facility again.

"Why not?" Korh asked, surprised into speaking. Falanna and the other Council members had returned to the facility to talk with him.

"We don't see a need to have them confined," Yura said. "They are not violent and they are not a danger to themselves or others."

Korh stared at him, unable to believe what he was hearing. "They attacked Ahntas and his team with a weapon when they escaped," he reminded them. "That sounds dangerous, doesn't it?"

"Well, that was before they understood anything," Yura said. "I mean, no one had bothered to explain anything to them! Of course they felt as if they had to escape and to use any measures in order to do so."

Korh blinked. "Explain things to them? What do you mean?"

Falanna laughed. "Oh, Korh! Ahntas and his team did not explain things because they felt that their grasp of language wasn't good enough yet, but it's much, much better than we thought. They know our language enough to understand what we say and what we mean when we say it, so of course, we explained to them that they cannot leave yet since we have so many questions!"

"And they accepted that?"

Falanna looked at Korh as if he were being unreasonable or making no sense. "Of course they did!"

Now Korh knew that something was going on that he wasn't seeing. He doubted that the Tau'reh would agree to stay just because things had been explained to them. He doubted it highly. None of the Tau'reh struck him as the type to just give in because a few words had been spoken and some misconceptions had become clear. Then again, they were aliens. Who was to say if his perceptions of them were correct? For a moment or two he considered that possibility and then rejected it. No, he was right. He was sure of it. "I see."

"I'm glad to see you understand," Falanna said brightly.

Korh nodded. "I do understand. So, for the time being, what is planned for the Tau'reh?"

Falanna's colors shifted and she smiled. "For right now, we've decided to let them make themselves at home. Since my dwelling is the largest I've arranged quarters for them so they'll be comfortable and at the moment they should be settling in with aid from my staff. Over the next few weeks we'll show them around Ghenta and introduce them to people and after that, we can introduce them to the Cahvel specialists and artifacts and see what we can learn."

"What if they know nothing about the Cahvel culture?"

The instant he saw their reaction to the question Korh cursed himself for speaking before he thought. He'd already assured them that it was almost certain they knew things about the Cahvel culture! That had been his whole wedge for running his idea of keeping the Tau'reh there through the Council!

"You assured us that they did," Falanna said. "Which is it, Korh?"

Uh-oh. "Well, I'm fairly certain that they do," he said smoothly. "After all, the physical similarities between the Tau'reh and the Cahvel skeletons we found can't be denied. I only said that to pose a 'what if' scenario."

"Perhaps you could find a better time and place to pose your 'what-if' scenarios," Falanna said coolly. "You frightened all of us into thinking that we were keeping sentient beings here for a reason that did not exist!"

It was true, too. Falanna and members of the Council were still shifting colors.

"I apologize," Korh said hastily. "It was not my intention to alarm you, Councilmembers."

"You are forgiven, Korh," Falanna said graciously. "We shall meet with you again. We will still need your insights into several matters."

Korh noticed that they had not said they would be in contact with him about the Tau'reh.

Space

The Tau'reh were in their quarters in Falanna's home, amusing themselves while they waited for the Ghenta to return. They knew that the Council was meeting with Korh and all of them wished they could see the cretin's face when he realized that he'd lost his control over them.

"I bet he turns puce," Jack said, highly amused at the image of a puce Ghenta. It wasn't pretty, but it was very, very funny.

"I'd like a really sick shade of gray shot through with purple," Sam said.

Jack blinked. "Isn't that puce?"

"No, puce is more of a blue shade."

"I think it would be more purple or reddish-brown, wouldn't it?" Daniel asked thoughtfully.

"I have heard it described as a muddy violet," Teal'c added.

Skaara looked confused. "Is not puce when you are sick?"

Surprised, they all looked at him.

"Sick to your stomach," he clarified. "When you are sick to your stomach you puce."

Sam broke down into giggles and nearly fell on her nose.

"Um...no," Jack said quickly. "When you're sick to your stomach you puke, Skaara. 'Puce' is a color."

Skaara thought about this. "It must be a very ugly color then, to be so close to puke."

That sentence made them all, even Teal'c, lose it. Skaara laughed right along with them, understanding just what he'd said and why it was funny. They were all laughing so hard that none of them noticed when Falanna entered. She'd heard them laughing all the way down the hall and wondered just what happened to cause such laughter.

"I'm glad to hear you all so happy," she said once they had enough breath to greet her. "What has happened?"

Daniel fought down further laughter. "I don't know if it will translate, but I can try telling you," he offered. At Falanna's nod he spent the next five minutes trying to tell her just what had been said and what it meant, and when she finally grasped the meaning she shifted colors intensely and started to laugh. Hearing her laugh set all the humans off again and for several minutes no one could speak; they were all too busy laughing.

"So, what color was our good friend Korh?" Jack asked. "I have to know."

"It was ugly," Falanna said. "He looked absolutely sick!"

"And score one for the good guys!"

It took Daniel a few minutes to explain that one to Falanna, but once she understood she could appreciate the sentiment.

"So what's planned for tomorrow?" Sam asked. Their general game plan was to make it seem to Korh as if they were settling in for the time being and to eventually attempt to figure out just where he found the technology he'd been using. According to Falanna, the Ghenta had nothing that could do what Korh had been doing.

"None of us like the fact that he's suddenly able to do these things," Falanna told them. "He has technology that is far beyond ours and none of it makes sense. We were hoping that if we managed to obtain some you would be able to tell us what it is."

"It stands to reason that we might know, or at the very least, either Teal'c or one of our allies might know," Jack said. "Since you and the Council were so kind as to get us away from Korh, we'd be more than happy to lend a hand with figuring out what Korh has."

Falanna smiled. "That would be wonderful."

There were several reasons why Jack and SG-1 were so eager to help Falanna with Korh's little technology "problem," but not the least of the reasons was Daniel. Since leaving the research facility and being told that Korh had no permission to enter Falanna's home, he was a lot like the old Daniel, the one that SG-1 remembered. It was almost like Korh's little experiment had never happened. Occasionally, he would get an odd, frightened look in his eyes, but after a minute or two it would pass and he would be himself again. Even better was the fact that he was joking and laughing again and having fun. He actually had taken a short nap in the middle of the day without having to have someone near him while he slept. Skaara was inordinately pleased with this fact and had informed them all, "His spirit is beginning to heal."

The next week seemed to prove that statement over and over. After using a walkie-talkie confiscated from Korh to report to Hammond ("It's dammed good to hear your voices, SG-1!") and telling him how matters stood on Ghenta, they received his reluctant permission to remain there until the present mysteries were solved.

"How are Doctor Jackson and Skaara?" Hammond asked before they could hang up. "I have a very anxious doctor here and an even more anxious father."

Daniel took the radio. "Hello, General. It's good to hear your voice, too. I'm just fine and Skaara's here. Does Kasuf want to talk to him?"

What they all heard next was priceless because it sounded as if the petite Janet Frasier and Kasuf were battling for the microphone.

"ME FIRST!" Janet shouted.

"THEY ARE MY CHILDREN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHAPPA'AI!"

"Let me talk to Father," Skaara suggested. "That will solve the problem."

Daniel handed the walkie to Skaara and fought down a chuckle. Janet versus Kasuf, hoo, boy.

"Father?" Skaara said after Jack reminded him of how to use the walkie.

"SKAARA!" What followed was a stream of Abydonian that only Daniel and Skaara could follow, and perhaps Teal'c. More than once Skaara smiled or winced and tried to talk, but Kasuf talked right over him. Finally he gave up and just let Kasuf talk as much as he wished. Once it seemed that he'd run out of steam Skaara hit the button and said a few quiet words before handing the walkie back to Daniel.

"Father says that he cannot wait to see us and that we are in trouble for not contacing him before this," Skaara reported.

"I was afraid of that," Daniel said. "Thanks, Skaara."

"He wants to talk to you," Skaara added.

"I was afraid of that, too. Okay. Good father?" Daniel said, speaking into the walkie.

Another stream of Abydonian followed and Daniel blinked and started to swallow. "Thank you, good father."

"Okay, you've had the mike long enough," they heard Janet complain in the background. "For the love of all things sacred, let me talk to Daniel!"

Daniel winced. He really, really didn't feel like talking to Janet just now. She would be full of questions about his mental state and he didn't want to talk about it. "I'm all right, Janet."

"Any problems?" she asked, finally getting the microphone away from Kasuf.

"No, not really," Daniel admitted. "A few bad dreams, but nothing too bad. I'm fine."

Surprised silence. "You're all right?"

"I think so," he answered. "I'm not in denial or anything, and I know what's happened to me, but it's not so difficult to deal with now."

"Has something changed?"

Daniel chuckled. "Oh, yes. We're no longer confined to the research facility, we're under the protection of the Ghenta Council, and Korh's no longer in charge of us."

He heard Janet laugh. "That's great! Let me know if anything else changes, all right?"

"Will do, Janet."

After receiving further orders from General Hammond about reporting in and hearing of Thor's visit SG-1 promised to call home again as soon as they could and to let Hammond know what was going on.

"Any guesses on when you'll be returning? We miss you around here."

"Now, that just warms the cockles of my heart," Jack joked. "A few weeks, three or so, I think."

"All right, colonel. Report in every other day."

"Yes, sir."

After they finished reporting in, Falanna took them to a building housing the Ghenta archives.

"This is where all of our records are kept," she explained as she led them inside. "We have taken down all of the writings found from the Cahvel culture and transcribed them into bound volumes here. I was hoping that Daniel might recognize the symbols they used."

Daniel's eyes gleamed and Jack fought down a wave of chagrin. It was very unlikely that they'd ever get Daniel out of there without extreme and violent force. Either that, or an act of God.

"I've gathered copies of all the Cahvel writings in this room," Falanna said, opening a door. "Will you be comfortable here?"

Jack had to give Falanna points for getting furniture that they could sit at comfortably. Daniel scooted to the table and opened up the nearest book. Within seconds he was flipping through the pages.

"Do you know this script?" Falanna asked, seeing Daniel's eyes skimming over the text.

"Ummm..."

Falanna looked at Jack for an explanation. "Ummm" had not been covered in their language lessons.

"He's not sure yet," Jack said.

"Oh."

Five minutes later Daniel's entire posture changed from limp in a chair to a hunting dog on a scent. "OH!"

That got their attention. "What is it?" Teal'c asked, moving to Daniel's side.

"It's...well, it's a variation of what I think is Brahmi, which was a precursor to about forty modern Indian alphabets, and it was used about 500 B.C. It's old and the time elapsing could account for some variations in the symbols, but yeah, it's entirely recognizable."

Falanna's colors shifted so much that they had a hard time stopping themselves from laughing.

"Uhh-ohhh," Daniel said a second later. "Here's a symbol I definitely recognize."

"What is it?" Jack asked, catching Daniel's change in mood.

"It's not Brahmi. It's the symbol for Nirrti."


End file.
